Amendments made to law and penalties clauses after public outcry

Several clauses in a new draft amendment law have been modified and improved after national legislators solicited opinions from various walks of life to respond to public concerns and maintain public order.

The draft amendment to the Law on Penalties for Administration of Public Security was submitted to the ongoing session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, on Tuesday for second review.

The legislative item that is close to many people received huge attention from the public after it was first read in August last year, with some provisions triggering heated discussions on Chinese social media platforms.

One clause, for example, stated that a person will face a detention of five to 10 days, or a fine, if he or she wears, or forces others to wear signs that "hurts the feelings of the Chinese nation".

Some people questioned what kind of clothes or signs could be deemed as "hurtful", complaining such expression in the clause would bring difficulties in law enforcement.

"After further research and discussions, the expression is no longer used in the latest version of the draft amendment," Shen Chunyao, an official from the NPC Standing Committee, said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, a few other clauses have also been optimized in the new draft amendment based on suggestions and opinions collected from research centers, academies, other authorities and residents offline and online, he added.

For instance, the latest version stipulates that a person under administrative detention can apply to leave the detention house if he or she meets special circumstances, such as taking entrance examinations, the imminent birth of a child, or the grave illness or death of a close family member.

Shen said that the improvement related to the procedures of administrative penalties is to respect and protect human rights, as well as to regulate and supervise administrative behaviors.

In response to the advice concerning illegal dog keeping and dog harming of others, the new draft amendment has clarified that those who fail to take safety measures against animals and cause them to harm other people will face a detention of up to five days, or a fine of up to 1,000 yuan ($137).

People who illegally sell or raise dangerous animals such as fierce dogs will be given a warning, the draft amendment said, adding that those who do not correct the mistake after the warning will be detained for no more than five days or fined no more than 1,000 yuan.