Political will vital to apply smoke ban

The 2008 Beijing Olympics and the ongoing Shanghai World Expo are splendid events that gain face for China on the global stage. Yet, the nation might lose face big time for not adhering to its pledge of banning smoking in public.

The World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), ratified by the National People's Congress in August 2005, will take effect next January. From the little progress made in the past years, meeting the target set by FCTC in seven months' time seems like "mission impossible".

No major city, such as Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou, has successfully banned smoking inside workplaces or public places, let alone the hundreds of smaller cities and the vast countryside.