Clauses to be revised in new draft amendment

People under administrative detention can apply to leave places of detention if they meet special circumstances, an official from the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, said on Friday.

Huang Haihua, spokesman of the NPC Standing Committee's Legislative Affairs Commission, said at a news conference that such circumstances include a detainee taking entrance examinations, the imminent birth of a child, or the grave illness or death of a close family member.

The circumstances are expected to be added in a draft amendment to the Law on Penalties for Administration of Public Security, which is scheduled to be further reviewed by national legislators next week, Huang said.

"The added content aims to respect and protect human rights, and also regulate and supervise administrative behavior," he added.

In response to public concern over the illegal possession and raising of unlicensed dogs and the possibility of such pets harming others, Huang said the draft amendment plans to increase penalties for selling or raising dangerous animals such as fierce canines, as well as for animals harming others.

The draft revision, as an important legislative item that impacts many people, was submitted to the NPC Standing Committee for initial review in August, receiving widespread public attention.

After the review, the full version of the draft amendment to the law was published on the top legislature's website in order to solicit public opinion, with one clause quickly triggering a debate on Chinese social media. It stated that a person will be detained for five to 10 days, or be subject to a fine, if he or she wears — or forces others to wear — clothing, signs or symbols that "hurt the feelings of the Chinese nation".

Some respondents questioned what kind of clothing or signs could be defined as "hurtful", saying that such an expression in the clause was difficult to define and adjudicate.

In view of these opinions, "the new version of the draft amendment to be considered next week has clarified this detail, with specific stipulations", Huang said.

He added that how to deal with cases of juveniles disturbing public order, which also received huge public attention during the solicitation, is expected to be further optimized in the new draft amendment.

Meanwhile, a few draft laws, such as those regarding emergency response and management, the rural collective economy, financial stability and preschool education, are also to be deliberated on by the NPC Standing Committee at its upcoming session due to be held in Beijing from Tuesday to Friday.

In addition, national lawmakers will review draft revisions to the frontier health and quarantine law, the cultural relics protection law, the mineral resources law and the accounting law, with deliberation slated on a number of reports.