(LI SHIGONG)

The National People's Congress, China's top legislature, solicited public opinions on the draft of China's first-ever Charity Law from October 31 to November 30. The question of whether or not the new law should ban tobacco companies from making charitable donations became a hot topic in this discussion. Some say these companies should be banned from giving to charities in order to prevent the promotion of themselves through donations. Others argue that the rights of tobacco companies to contribute should be respected but endorsement activities via financial support should be banned.

Banning donations 

Chang Wu (Beijing Youth Daily ): Smoking harms people's health, so tobacco control should only be tightened rather than relaxed. In recent years, tobacco control has been carried out effectively in China. However, tobacco companies have been seeking all possible opportunities in order to promote themselves.

Although the draft Charity Law has stipulated that no organization or individual should take advantage of charity programs to promote tobacco products or their producers and vendors, it hasn't clarified the legal consequences for violations and is therefore unlikely to be very effective.

Moreover, the draft doesn't ban tobacco companies from donating, which opens space for them to publicize their products and corporate image through donations. As tobacco companies have solid financial foundations, they will inevitably devote resources toward charities in order to promote themselves if they are not banned from such activities.

The Charity Law should have zero tolerance for donations from tobacco companies to charities and leave no room for them to advertise their products.

Wu Longgui (Bandao Metropolis News ): It is an international convention to forbid charity organizations from accepting donations from tobacco companies. However, in drawing up the Charity Law in China, the problem has come under debate. This indicates that there is a lack of understanding regarding the harm that promoting tobacco can potentially inflict on Chinese society.

The World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control took effect in China in January 2006. The convention prohibits all tobacco commercials, advertisements and sponsorship. China is a signatory to the convention and its domestic laws should not contradict it. In reality, although the Advertisement Law has forbidden the media from publishing tobacco advertisements, promotions by tobacco companies through charity programs are commonplace. In fact, such promotions are even more effective than advertisements.

The aim of tobacco companies in engaging in charity programs is to showcase their social responsibility, promote themselves, and grab a larger market share. Such practices are effective because when tobacco companies appear in public in a positive light, their products will be more easily accepted by the public. Statistics have shown that Chinese teenage smokers are developing the habit at an earlier age, which may be related to loose laws and tolerant public opinion on the tobacco companies' promotions.

Some may argue that given the underdeveloped charities in China and the riches of tobacco companies, it's practical to allow these companies to donate incognito. However, this is impossible in practice as tobacco companies are all profit-driven and they would use all possible means to publicize their names through charity programs.

Donations from tobacco companies may be used to benefit society. However, the benefits are achieved at the cost of the public's health. Therefore, we should resolutely say no to donations from tobacco companies.

Wang Dan (Western China Metropolis Daily ): Tobacco companies are seemingly shouldering social responsibilities in doing charity; however, their donations come from the production and sale of harmful tobacco and their purpose in donating is often simply to promote their products and mend their negative image. Allowing them to engage in charity giving will negatively affect tobacco control in China.

It's not to say that the income of tobacco companies cannot be used by charities but a more proper way should be explored for tobacco companies to contribute to charities. The tobacco industry can contribute indirectly to those in need. The most appropriate way may be by imposing higher taxes on tobacco companies, which the government may employ for public purposes.

The Charity Law should ban all donations from tobacco companies and leave no room for donations aimed at promotion. More importantly, a new distribution system for tobacco companies' profits should be established to divert more of their profits toward social welfare.

Banning promotions 

Bing Lin (Beijing Times ): China's charities are underdeveloped, with the amount of donations collected barely meeting the demands of those in need. In the meantime, China's tobacco control movement is progressing slowly.

Against this backdrop, we need to ask the following questions: Since tobacco companies are legitimate market entities, should the law prohibit them from contributing to charity programs? Are all charity programs involving tobacco companies evil? Do their donations always carry the purpose of self-advertising?

If tobacco companies are refused the ability to make donations simply because they produce products which are harmful to people's health, then should all donors be examined to ensure that their money is "clean?" Many experts claim that allowing tobacco companies to make donations gives them equal opportunities to promote themselves. Although this is the case most of the time, there can be exceptions. For instance, if a tobacco company is willing to donate to a family desperately needing money in order to save a life, is it necessary to ban this action?

The purpose of charity legislation is to solve charities' problems in China and promote their healthy development. What the Charity Law should prohibit is tobacco companies' self-promotion through charity programs rather than the charitable behavior itself. A reasonable solution should be to respect the tobacco companies' right to make donations while prohibiting any self-promotion.

The draft of the Charity Law has already banned organizations and individuals from making use of charity programs to promote tobacco products or their producers and vendors. In addition to this, the law should further stipulate punishments for those honoring tobacco companies for their charitable contributions.

Tong Tong (Beijing Morning Post ): The suggestion to ban donations from tobacco companies stems from concerns for the health of the population. The number of smokers in China accounts for one third of the world total, and 1.2 million people die of smoking-related diseases every year in China, representing 24 percent of the global total. Therefore, controlling smoking and reducing the number of smokers concerns people's livelihoods.

It is undeniable that as one of the most profitable industries, the tobacco industry contributes greatly to the national income. How to tap into the economic benefits of the industry while preventing tobacco from harming people's health is important.

To promote the development of China's charities, the willingness of tobacco companies to engage in charity should be encouraged. When formulating its Charity Law, China may draw upon experiences from Australia, where the government established a charity fund for teenagers' sports activities exclusively by increasing taxes on tobacco and alcohol. No promotion of tobacco or alcohol is involved in such activities.

Copyedited by Mara Lee Durrell

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