Stop law going up in smoke

Beijing's lawmakers should not allow single occupancy offices to be exempt from a ban on indoor public smoking

To protect its citizens from second-hand smoke, Beijing's legislators are working on a regulation to ban smoking in all indoor public places. That is potentially great news, not only for the capital, but also for China's 300 million smokers, one of whom dies every 30 seconds from a tobacco-related illness. Tobacco also takes an enormous toll on Beijing's, and China's, healthcare system and economy.

It would be a great shame - and a tremendous waste of life - if Beijing's lawmakers let special interests derail progress toward the passage of a regulation that would institute a comprehensive ban on indoor public smoking. Only a comprehensive ban will comply with the terms of the world's first health treaty, the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The treaty, which China became a signatory to in 2005, commits China to adopt laws that protect citizens from exposure to tobacco smoke in offices and other indoor public spaces.