Beijing metro: food ok, but beggars can't stay

Beijing legislators are considering scrapping a ban on eating and drinking on the subway while doing away with begging and distributing advertising brochure, the Beijing Youth Daily reported on Friday.

In the second review of a new draft of metro operation and safety regulations, held on Thursday by the Standing Committee of Beijing Municipal People's Congress, it was also proposed that individual station officials could override passenger luggage inspections at peak traffic hours.

The revised draft stipulated that indivuals found begging in subway stations would receive a 50 yuan to 1,000 yuan ($8-$163) fine.

The draft proposed that people found dispensing advertising pamphlets have their business materials confiscated, in addition to a 100 yuan to 1,000 yuan fine which could be raised to 1,000 yuan to 10,000 yuan if the offenders have caused a serious disturbance.

The draft regulation on rail traffic safety issued in February by Beijing municipality banned eating and drinking in subway carriages, and said offenders could be fined up to 500 yuan ($80). The proposal sparked a heated public debate.

In June 2013, the chinadaily.com.cn reported that professional beggars who work eight hours a day account for 80 percent of beggars in the subway in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province. The report estimated that many earned up to 1,000 yuan per day.

In March 2014, Chinese TV and newspaper reports revealed that many people, including children, were allegedly sold to criminal gangs in Dongguan and intentionally injured, even disabled, by gang members to work as beggars.

Most of the victims were formerly homeless people or children abducted from their hometowns before they were sold to the city's gangs, according to China Daily reports.

Double life of beggars	Opinions mixed on subway ban of food, drinks