Society

New ganbei ban yet to nab cases

By Yan Jie (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-12-23 08:17

Enforcement of a new law trying to put the cork in the country's drinking culture has so far come up dry.

One week into the ban on forced drinking by officials in Kunming, capital of Yunnan province, the main body charged with overseeing the decree's enforcement has yet to report any case of alcohol-related wrongdoing, according to an official who drafted the ban.

Song Xiaolin, an office director at Kunming's Discipline Inspection Commission, said it is a sign of the support the new law has gained.

So welcome is the new law apparently that, according to a joke being circulated in town, a number of government employees have brought documents of the ban with them as a sort of amulet protecting them from any drinking requirements, local media reported.

The order, the first of its kind in China, is meant to curb the Chinese drinking culture, featuring round after round of toasts that on occasion have resulted in death from alcohol poisoning.

The new regulation is also welcome news for the man who is widely known to have come up with the latest drinking ban.

"I was troubled with having to drink more than I wanted," Song said yesterday on the phone.

"Now I can drink only a little in government and business receptions and almost none in daily life," Song said.

The introduction of the ban comes as the local government is trying to raise the level of manners for all of its officials, as well as employees of government and State-owned enterprises, he said.

However, Song admitted in the interview that the latest drinking order falls short of setting a clear definition for forced toasting of alcoholic drinks, saying that it is more focused instead on ways of implementation.

The country's drinking culture, also called the ganbei culture, features round after round of toasts, and it hit the spotlight again recently following the death of a traffic officer. In October, the traffic policeman in the southern city of Shenzhen, Guangdong province, died of alcohol poisoning after he had reportedly been coerced into excessive drinking.

The news made a splash nationwide because the policeman's family demanded he should receive the status of martyr, an accolade usually awarded to people who are deemed to have sacrificed their lives for the good of the public.

Though initially bestowed, the honor was rescinded after it made headlines.

According to Kunming's latest decree, the discipline departments at every unit of the government, institutions and enterprises are responsible for carrying out the drinking ban.

Colleagues at the table are also encouraged to keep their eyes on each other's drinking glasses.

Similarly, Song's office will organize occasional undercover inspections by representatives from the local People's Congress in the hope of capturing wrongdoers under the new rule.

Penalties are severe if officials are caught breaking the regulation.

Those who breach the rules three times face the risk of losing their posts.

Song and his men are now ready for any report of excessive drinking by officials, and more directions from the highest-ranking official in Kunming about the anti-drunk campaign.

"The media is welcome to play its roles as supervisor, too," Song said.