China, which is on the agenda with the interesting decisions it makes from time to time, is on the agenda again with a similar development. This time, the government started working on a bill that would ban wearing clothes and writing articles that “harm the public spirit.” The strange thing is: No one knows what clothes and articles are harmful to the soul of the people. As such, the new draft law caused controversy in the country.
Life in China, which is governed by partial communism, is a little different compared to other countries. The state makes its presence felt in every field you can think of. However, the latest bill seems to lead to going one step beyond what happened in the past. Chinese experts agree that the bill could result in human rights violations. The Chinese public, on the other hand, thinks that this law will result in “exaggeration”.
What exactly does the bill contain?
Under the Chinese government’s proposed law, an individual would face major penalties if he or she wears clothing, symbols, makes a speech or writes an article that “undermines the spirit or hurts the feelings of the Chinese nation.” In fact, not only those who wear clothes, but also those who encourage them to wear clothes that will harm China may be detained for up to 15 days. Moreover, fines of over $600 are on the agenda for these individuals.
What does “clothing that would undermine the spirit or hurt the feelings of the Chinese nation” mean?
This is exactly the reason why the bill is being discussed. No one except the government knows exactly what kind of clothing will undermine the spirit and hurt the feelings of the Chinese nation.
There are some examples of clothing discussions
Although it is not fully understood what clothes that hurt the public are in China, there have been some examples of this issue in the past. In an incident last year, a woman was detained for wearing a kimono, which is more associated with Japanese culture. The authorities tried this woman for “provoking the public”. Just last month, some people who came to the concert of Taiwanese singer Chang Hui-mei in Beijing wearing rainbow-colored clothes were not allowed in.
What do the Chinese think?
One of the names who made statements on the subject was Professor Zhao Hong from the University of Political Science and Law of China. The scientist who published an article on the subject said, “What will happen if a law enforcement officer’s personal interpretation goes beyond the law, including ‘damage to the soul’ of China?” He made an important statement. According to legal experts, the government needs to reveal the clothes that will harm the nation one by one.
This is the only issue discussed on China’s local social media Weibo. Wang Wusi, one of the country’s well-known phenomena, said, “So, wearing a kimono will upset the Chinese people, and eating Japanese food will endanger their soul? When did the Chinese nation become so fragile?” In the posts about the bill, which he criticized with the following statements, it is said that in such a case, clothes such as suits and ties may also be banned. It is a matter of curiosity how China will solve this issue…
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