WORLD : Chinese OK Flag-Desecration Law; Offenders Face Prison
Chinese who desecrate the national flag can be imprisoned for up to three years under a law passed by legislators today.
The nation’s first flag law, adopted by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, also forbids the use of the standard in advertisements or as a trademark, the official New China News Agency said.
The agency said willful damage to a flag is punishable by up to three years of imprisonment, detention, surveillance or deprivation of political rights.
Before the law was passed, China often harshly punished those who defaced any of its national symbols. Last year a Chinese court gave a life sentence to a man who, during the pro-democracy demonstrations of June, 1989, threw paint on the large portrait of Mao hanging from Tian An Men Gate.
The Chinese law says every citizen and organization must respect and take good care of the national flag, which shows one large yellow star and four small ones against a red field.
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