Ban on birthday celebrations has no legal basis

A VILLAGER in Nanba town, Xuanhan county in Southwest China's Sichuan province, was fined 650 yuan ($100) for hosting a birthday celebration for his 87-year-old mother on Aug 10. To curb the tradition of birthday feasts for local villagers who are also Party members, the township government earlier introduced a regulation that they could only hold such celebrations on their parents' 80th and 90th birthdays. Beijing News commented on Thursday:

It is silly to charge 650 yuan to alert the villagers in the village about the regulation banning most birthday celebrations.

The township government has no right to limit the rights of the villagers in this way, and there is no legal basis for the punitive charge.