New rules for national anthem
Print Edition
China is fine-tuning legislation on the proper way and place to sing its national anthem, tightening rules that already bar people from belting it out at parties, weddings and funerals.
A draft bill is being prepared because of concerns that the patriotic ballad is “not universally respected and cherished,” Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.
“Due to a lack of legal constraints, the national anthem is casually used and sung in an unsolemn manner,” Xinhua said.
China has laws covering the use of its national flag and national emblem but none for its anthem — “March of the Volunteers” — aside from a ban on its use in advertisements.
Written in 1935 before the Communist Party took power and officially adopted in 1982, the buoyant, military-minded score calls on the Chinese people to “arise” and “march on” toward the establishment of a new nation.
The draft legislation will stipulate the tempo at which the song should be played, in which circumstances and moods, and the legal consequences of playing the anthem in a “damaging situation.”
The draft follows regulations on national anthem etiquette that were announced in 2014 to “enhance the song’s role in cultivating core socialist values.”
These values are part of the Party’s ongoing “patriotic education” campaign.
Current regulations allow the national anthem to be played only during formal diplomatic occasions, at major sporting events and at international gatherings — thus making the song off-limits at weddings, funerals and on other occasions that come under the heading of “private entertainment.”
Xinhua noted the historic roots of “March of the Volunteers,” originally a battle song encouraging the nation’s youth to fight courageously against invaders.
In recent years the use of the anthem has fallen into “chaos,” Xinhua said, with some people laughing or making a ruckus during the song.
Social media users on Weibo — China’s microblogging website — expressed their support for the nascent anthem law.
“I’ve been waiting for this,” wrote one commentator.
“People are always singing the national anthem for fun, as if it’s a regular song.
“I will take the lead in reporting these people, this bunch of trash, who don’t even have respect for their homeland!”
The bill is expected to be submitted for its first reading in June.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
