A draft law banning speech and dressing “detrimental to the spirit of Chinese people” has sparked debate in China.

If the law comes into force, people found guilty could be fined or jailed but the proposal does not yet spell out what constitutes a violation.

Social media users and legal experts have called for more clarity to avoid excessive enforcement.

China recently released a swathe of proposed changes to its public security laws - the first reforms in decades.

The clothing law has drawn immediate reaction from the public - with many online criticising it as excessive and absurd.

The contentious clauses suggest that people who wear or force others to wear clothing and symbols that “undermine the spirit or hurt the feelings of the Chinese nation” could be detained for up to 15 days and fined up to 5,000 yuan ($680; £550).

  • @[email protected]
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    31 year ago

    It feels shady the way the media uses this overly literal translation of ‘hurt the feelings’ all the time in order to make the Chinese sound ridiculous. Could make any foreign language speaker sound ridiculous by cherry picking funny but common phrases and translating them literally.

    • @Pat12
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      01 year ago

      ? It’s the best way to translate it, some Chinese words don’t have good English translations and vice versa

      • @[email protected]
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        1 year ago

        There’s a better translation right here in this thread. “Hurting our relationship” is not so literal and so doesn’t sound daft in English.

        • @Pat12
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          01 year ago

          no, that’s not the same thing. “our relationship” does not convey the same emotion that is intended in the chinese word.