Society
Rule breakers in frame during city's shame campaign
By He Dan and Guo Rui (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-03-21 07:40
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BEIJING - The authorities in Wuhan, capital of Central China's Hubei province, have rolled out a controversial policy aimed at cracking down on bad behavior.
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Critics have complained that the crackdown and the release of names is an abuse of administrative power.
The office in charge of promoting civilized behavior in Wuhan started the initiative on Friday with the release of several lists of the names of people said to have broken the rules or engaged in bad behavior.
One list carried the names and license plate numbers of 10 drivers who broke traffic rules. The list included details of the time and place of the offence and the driving rule that was broken.
Another list revealed the names of 10 people who dropped rubbish on the streets. It included the offenders' gender, age and the penalties each received.
The office also published the photos of 10 people spotted jaywalking instead of using marked crosswalks.
The office said that the offenders who were named and shamed were chosen at random out of the vast number of people breaking the rules, according to a report by the Wuhan-based Changjiang Daily.
The style of the campaign is not new in China.
Traffic authorities in Zhuzhou city, in Central China's Hunan province, launched a similar drive in April 2010 to encourage people to take snapshots or videos of drivers breaking traffic rules, local media reported.
The whistle-blowers can reportedly qualify for a reward of 100 yuan ($15) from the local traffic authorities if their photos and videos are picked up by the media.
"We got the inspiration for our campaign from that initiative in Zhuzhou, which has proved to be an effective way to curb citizens' uncivilized behavior," said an official surnamed Wen from the Wuhan authorities.
Wen also told China Daily on Sunday that the strategy was part of a drive to boost the image of Wuhan, where the local government has tried unsuccessfully many times to win the title of "national civilized city".
The initiative drew mixed reactions from residents at the weekend.
"It is worth trying because I strongly feel it is very necessary to improve Wuhan citizens' manners in public places," said Hu Chun, 26, a university graduate working in Wuhan.
But Li Xuemei, a 39-year-old secondary school teacher, said she felt it was going too far to expose offenders on television or in newspapers.
"I think it intrudes into people's privacy and I believe people of my age or people who are older than me will not agree with this type of punishment," Li said.
Qian Jun, a lawyer from the Yingke Law Firm in Beijing, agreed that the campaign may be going too far.
"According to the current laws, law enforcement departments are entitled to give the proper punishments to the violators of public regulations but it is groundless for these governmental organs to publicly disgrace rule-breakers," Qian said.
The naming and shaming campaign could lead to an abuse of administrative powers, Qian suggested.
Cao Yin contributed to this story.
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