The city's civilization affairs office is considering drafting
laws that could lead to fines for using obscenities, according to
the Shanghai Morning Post.
The office finished research on drafting the regulation on
citizens' behaviors at public venues at the end of the last year,
according to the report.
In addition to the existing citizen manners guideline, which
mainly functions as an ethics standard, the city needs to draft a
law that metes out fines to the offenders to prevent citizens from
using dirty words, Luo Huarong, one of the members of the 10th
Shanghai Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said
on Saturday.
She said dirty words often lead to fights, some of which may
turn lethal.
It is true that a typical Shanghai resident tends to refrain
from fist fighting to settle a dispute, but they should also try to
keep a similar rein on their mouth at moments of anger, according
to Luo.
Shanghai residents are known across the country to prefer
quarreling to fighting over trifles on the street.
Gu Daxi, another city adviser, said a law is necessary to fight
dirty words and help ensure citizens act politely toward each
other. The size of the fine for swearing may vary depending on the
income of the offenders, Jiang Dehai, a professor at East China
University of Politics and Law, told the newspaper. Jiang
participated in research on drafting the regulation.
The law will also include "uncivilized behavior" of some dog
keepers.
(Shanghai Daily January 29, 2007)