It has been revealed that banning smoking in public venues will be included in the amended Regulations on Public Sanitation Management, although there is still no timetable when the amended regulations will be published and take effect.

This will be the first time such a ban has won support from national administrative regulations adopted by the State Council.

While it is senseless to question the consensus that secondhand smoking kills, it will be an arduous battle to protect non-smokers from being harmed by passive smoking. This is not only because China accounts for one-third of the world's total smokers, with 350 million, but because most smokers stubbornly insist they have the right and freedom to smoke wherever they want.