Officials in a county in central China have been told to smoke nearly a quarter million packs of locally made cigarettes annually or risk being fined, state media reported. The Gong'an county government in Hubei province has ordered its staff to puff their way through 230,000 packs of Hubei-produced cigarette brands a year, the Global Times said. Departments that fail to meet their targets will be fined, according to the report. "The regulation will boost the local economy via the cigarette tax," said Chen Nianzu, a member of the Gong'an cigarette market supervision team, according to the paper. The measure could also be a ploy to aid local cigarette brands such as Huanghelou, which are under severe pressure from competitors in neighbouring Hunan province, according to the paper. China has 350 million smokers, of whom a million die of smoking-related diseases every year. More than half of all male doctors in China smoke, but the government is now trying harder to get them to kick the habit in order to set an example for others, state media reported recently.
so they want the gov officials to smoke and also for male docs to kick the habit so they can set a good a example? that makes absolutely no sense.
i guess what they are trying to make is status.. Gov officials are like higher class than normal docs/gp's reason why they want docs to stop so patient might have more confidence on the whole no smoking and smoking is bad for you and Gov to smoke so that it gives them status you know rich people smoke those massive expenisve cigars...
^ i think they just want more people do die from smoking, so there will be more jobs free, which boost the economy xD there are so many people in China anywayz... Gov doesnt mind 1 or 2 million lost on smoking
^ meh the one child policy has already ruined enough lives.. no offence if i do become a politician.. i will bring democracy to that place >.< screw communism...
communism got there advantage, i think every system got there advantage and disadvantage.. and tbh.. how far is our democracy fair really.. it will works till a certain class.. if you got money... theres no democracy
do you not think out quality of life is a far better than China? We have human rights law to keep us safe and we are not limited to how many kids we have.. maybe the democratic society isn't all that good but at least we have out choice of who helps and represent us whereas communism is like very controlling and very money grabbing too and @ G... i'd rule all of the Western world first before i'll enter China... I'll even befriend North Korea first for my army power haha
how far do you think our so called democracy media influence us really? The media mess up our mind really, most of the time without you knowing, and when you choose for your government, how do you know that you havent got mind controlled? And yea, media in communism country just let you know what you need to know.. Most of the time is, the less you know, the better it is The law is good, but how much do you think some people use the law for there advantage? saving someone's life and then getting sued? wtf is that... Its not that i agree what China does, but im just saying, every system got there advantage and disadvantage our system isnt the best.. since there are enough people taking advantage out of it.. just like in the communism world
i doubt it means they actually have to smoke them... just buy them if i were an official id just resell them bulk at a discount to the public and recoup some of the cost.
agree. how are they going to monitor and enforce the officials to smoke? it's not like they can force them into a room every day and record them smoke on camera. I like your idea on reselling the smokes , makes sense unless they themselves are smokers.
My mum told me that there's this mentality that 'if you're a man in china and you don't smoke,then you're not a man' It's a silly mentality and no wonder they're applying this kind of law
Smoking IS bad, period. Being told to smoke is being abused. Just one more reason why the Chinese people need to reform their government. You know, this sort of reminds me of the traveler to a foreign country who was previously instructed by an malevolent "friend" to say a word in that foreign country's language, telling him it was a greeting. But, the fact is, that word was actually a serious insult that made the locals look down upon the visitor. The visitor thus went about his trip blithely ignorant of all this, saying the word to all he met, but couldn't figure out why the people there were being so unfriendly towards him. The lack of knowledge can either be a humorous thing (if you're an evil friend) or a sad thing (if you talk to people but unknowingly or inadvertently insult them) FYI from WEBSTER's Dictionary Page: chinaman one entry found. Main Entry:Chi·na·man Pronunciation: \ˈchī-nə-mən\ Function:noun Date:1789 often offensive : a native of China : chinese Here are several others that people here often also unknowingly (or purposely) use: paki One entry found. Main Entry: Paki Pronunciation:\ˈpa-kē, ˈpä-\ Function: noun Etymology: short for Pakistani Date: 1964 chiefly British usually offensive : an immigrant from Pakistan or a neighboring south Asian country Jap 2 entries found. 1. Jap 2. JAP Main Entry:Jap Pronunciation: \ˈjap\ Function: noun or adjective Date: 1886 usually disparaging : japanese Date: 1973 usually disparaging : jewish american princess spade 5 entries found. 1. 1spade (noun) 2. 2spade (verb) 3. 3spade (noun) 4. 1call (verb) 5. spade beard Main Entry: spade Pronunciation: \ˈspād\ Function: noun Etymology: Italian spada or Spanish espada broadsword; both from Latin spatha, from Greek spathē blade Date: circa 1598 usually offensive : black And a quote on the usage of borderline offensive language from wiki, regarding the word "Nigga": So, is it an insult or sign that one's lexicon is progressive? I guess it depends on the listener. I personally find all such words insulting. When one uses words like that, the ONLY person that one can positively say won't be offended by that, is the user. IMHO, there are enough words in our lexicon to choose from that one does not ever need to resort to such racially charged or double edged devices. But hey, anyone can use such words if they think it makes them appear culturally 'in the loop' or knowledgeable of an 'in thing' so to speak. But don't be surprised if promotions, key jobs, friends, or associates seem to subtly evaporate. The bottom line is, we are always being judged; whether we like it or consider it fair or not, what comes out of our mouths is certainly going to be exhibit number one. I remember when my own younger brother, many years ago, who at the time was a young Assistant District Attorney in New York City, refer to one of his Chinese immigrant crime cases as "...just another chink" case. I looked him in the eye for a few long seconds and asked if he similarly referred to all of his Black or African American crime dockets as "nigger cases" and likewise his Hispanic orchestrated offenses as "spic cases?" Needless to say, he immediately got the point, and stopped.
^ but its the 'in' thing to use offensive terms if you yourself fall into that category, some of my friends call themselves the 'C' word, i also have Pakistani friends calling themselves the 'P' word and black friends calling themselves the 'N' word.
^ not being funny right if i don't find it offensive so i should be able to say it.. didn't even think it was offensive BTW hahaaaa it's like saying Frech-man etc...
