http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-12/18/c_134931767.htm
BEIJING, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) — Chinese anti-smoking campaigners want a ban on charity donations or activities sponsored by tobacco companies in a draft charity law.
Members of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the body that runs the legislature between full meetings, will meet in Beijing from Dec. 21 to 27 to deliberate the draft.
The draft, published online for comment in November, has been heatedly discussed among anti-smoking activists.
Xu Guihua of the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control approves of the proposals banning tobacco advertising, but said more strict regulations are needed to stop tobacco companies using charities to promote their products.
According to the draft, organizations and individuals should not seek to promote tobacco products or tobacco companies through charitable donations. However, tobacco companies may still sponsor charitable activities such as fund raisers since charitable activities can take various forms, said Xu.
Besides, the clauses about incentives to encourage organizations and individuals to do charity work, such as tax breaks, naming rights, do not exclude tobacco companies, which could lead to them benefiting from media coverage of charities they sponsor, Xu added.
Banning all tobacco donations is a requirement of international law, said Zhao Jianwen with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences institute of international law.
China signed the WTO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2003, and ratified it in 2006, which requires all signatories to “ban all tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship.” Incorporating a ban on tobacco sponsorship into the charity law is in line with the spirit of the convention, Zhao said.
Wu Yiqun, vice director of the Beijing-based anti-smoking advocacy group ThinkTank Research Center for Health Development, said that lawmakers should ban donations just as they banned tobacco commercials in the Advertising Law passed in April.
The draft law is short of sanctions for violators, a loophole which could be taken advantage of by tobacco companies since there would be no penalty for breaking the law, said Liu Xin of the China Law Society.
According to the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control, there have been 166 cases of tobacco sponsorship in the last two years.
There have been questions of whether banning tobacco donations could be a loss to society. Zhao Jianwen suggested that raising tobacco industry taxes could let the government spend more money on charities.
China has over 300 million smokers and the government has recently made some efforts to change the situation. Beijing rolled out regulations banning all forms of tobacco promotions and title sponsorship, which went into effect on June 1. The rules also prohibit smoking in Beijing’s public indoor areas.