Increase in Jail Term for Disrespect of National Anthem: China Takes Stern Action

Chinese Recent News Report
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Increase in Jail Term for Disrespect of National Anthem
Introduction
The National Anthem in any country serves as a unifying factor for citizens. It is a requirement that all nationals of a country must respect the national anthem according it the proper decorum required. In recent times countries have been seen overly concerned about the manner in which people behave during the national anthem. In America, the government has been perturbed by the behavior of players who were seen to kneel instead of standing during the national anthem (Saxena, p. 27-47). The National Football League in America was seen as disrespecting the flag and national anthem when they knelt at the beginning of their games during the singing of the national anthem. This was an act of rebellion and boycott that was being directed to president Trump.
China Takes Stern Action
Perhaps following in the steps of America, the Chinese parliament introduced a law that would see any person who is found to disrespect the national anthem would be jailed. A month after this stern rule was passed, the parliament in China, which is seen as a mere rubber stamp for the executive has now increased the jail term to three years (Palanthurai, P. 135). The legislature, which has a majority from the Communist party in China approved an amendment to the previous law which will now see all those disrespecting the national anthem face a mandatory jail term of three without fine.
Among the offenses identified as attracting the jail term include failure to position oneself in the right posture as well as deliberate distortion of lyrics of the anthem. In addition, any other action that is seen as insulting either the national anthem, the national flag or any symbol of national unity will carry the same jail term.
It will certainly be interesting to see the new developments owing to the fact that China does not encourage dissenting voice. The legislative arm of the government in China has in recent times fine-tuned a legislation whose sole focus to outline the right manner in which the national anthem ought to be sung and in which places it should (Jagran, p. 94). With the new rules, singing the national anthem at a party will now be a thing of the past.
Freedom of Speech in china as Compared to the United States.
Legal scholars have argued that bringing this legislation into effect will have an effect t on the freedom of speech that is enshrined in the constitution. While all symbols of national unity such as the flag and the national anthem ought to be protected and respected, citizens have a right to express themselves freely. The measures of the government of China have come after various incidences that were seen as disrespectful to the national anthem (Clark, p. 92). These incidents have mainly been witnessed during football matches where fans have sung the national anthem in the least of decorum, including their own lyrics and completely distorting the anthem. Part of the distorting of the national anthem especially in Hong Kong is a direct resistance to the rule on the leaders of China. Hong Kong has been asking to be excluded as part of China, a move that the mainland China has not fully granted. Sometime in O...