Right to ban civil servants from smoking at work

THE GOVERNMENT of Linquan county, East China's Anhui province, has banned civil servants from smoking during working hours, which has prompted much debate, Legal Daily comments:

Violators will be exposed on county television, and required to conduct open self-criticism and donate between 200 yuan ($29) and 1,000 yuan to the county's poverty alleviation fund. Many people think this goes too far. However, there are more than 316 million smokers in China and it is right that civil servants set a good example for the public by not smoking at work.

The central government issued a national smoking ban in 2011. But the ban has been poorly implemented. Many who smoke in public places seem to have nothing to fear. Some are quite audacious in defying the ban and openly challenge the authority of the law enforcers, as if smoking, whenever and wherever, is a fundamental right.