China drops controversial ‘hurt feelings’ clause from public security admin law
- NPC law committee member Shen Chunyao says the proposal was subjective and open to misinterpretation
The clause was dropped from a revised draft of Article 34 proposed for the Public Security Administration Punishments Law and submitted to the top legislature, the National People’s Congress (NPC), for a second review at its session last week.
The public has until July 27 to submit feedback on the proposal.
The original clause – “producing, disseminating, propagating or spreading articles or remarks that are harmful to the spirit or the feelings of the Chinese nation” – has been removed from the article.
In the first proposed draft amendment released in September, the clause stipulated six acts that could attract up to 15 days in detention, including “wearing, displaying or decorating in public places, or forcing others to wear, display or decorate, clothing or symbols that are harmful to the spirit or the feelings of the Chinese nation”.
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The phrases “harmful to the spirit of the Chinese nation” and “hurting the feelings of the Chinese nation” in the previous version of Article 34 were dropped, Shen Chunyao, deputy chairman of the NPC constitution and law committee, said on Tuesday.
