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Be good to your parents or else, warns Shaanxi

Authorities in Xunyang county, Shaanxi province, have a warning to residents: Take care of your parents or face punishment. In a sharply worded notice last week, the local government said law enforcement officials, along with the local courts and prosecutors, will punish any "disobedient and unfilial behaviors". The move, according to the notice, is aimed at "promoting traditional Chinese virtues and safeguarding the rights of the elderly." It lists six behaviors that authorities have deemed unfilial toward parents: living in new residences while parents live in "old and dangerous" ones, extorting parents' pensions and other subsidies related to old age, shirking responsibilities, neglect, verbal abuse, and physical abuse. Possible punishments range from a verbal warning to police detention or even formal charges, depending on the severity of the offense. Under Chinese law, failing to take care of aging parents or young children constitutes a criminal offense punishable by up to five years' imprisonment or criminal detention.

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