‘The National Flag of the People's Republic of China is the symbol and hallmark of the People's Republic of China. All citizens and organizations shall respect and care for the National Flag.’
‘It is the duty of citizens of the People’s Republic of China to safeguard the unification of the country and the unity of all its nationalities.’
‘It is the duty of citizens of the People’s Republic of China to safeguard the security, honour and interests of the motherland; they must not commit acts detrimental to the security, honour and interests of the motherland.’
I heard that someone insulted the national flag recently, which caused countless people’s criticism and abuse. I believe that any Chinese will be furious when facing this kind of behavior. The flag represents the dignity of the country, how can we allow you to trample on it at will? Freedom of speech is a right, but it is a right endowed by the country and people, you guys who insulted the country while enjoying the rights of the country, I just want to say: Take some advantage and giving someone complain.
‘No matter how long the shadow of a tree is, its roots are always in the soil.’ Patriotism is a genuine emotion embedded in the heart, that is approvable by everyone. If a person is not patriotic, he will lose his emotional foundation and his foothold. [From People's Daily, May 9, 2019] Naturally, patriotism should guard the dignity of the country. Any act that insults the national marks and symbols is not only condemned by the people, but also condemned by the law.
Article 299 of the Criminal Law expressly stipulates the crime of insulting the national flag and emblem, ‘Whoever desecrates the National Flag or the National Emblem of the People's Republic of China by intentionally burning, mutilating, scrawling on, defiling or trampling upon it in a public place shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, public surveillance or deprivation of political rights.’
So long as the perpetrator intentionally and publicly insults the national flag and emblem in public, and to a certain extent, he or she will constitute this crime. Last October, Zheng, a man in Urumqi, sentenced a local court to one year's imprisonment for burning the flag to vent his frustration. In March 2017, Wang was sentenced to one year in prison for lowering the national flag, waving and trampling it when he went to the county government for petition. From this we can see that not only the act of tearing and burning the flag will be punished, such as drawing on the flag, smearing the national flag emblem with dirt, throwing the national flag on the ground and trampling on it are all the manifestations of the crime. All acts of disrespect for the national flag and emblem are the law, the country and we tens of millions of ‘flag guardians’ absolutely intolerable!
Likewise, the march of the volunteers, a solemn national anthem that records our difficult and dangerous history of the war of resistance and highlights the perseverance of the national spirit of our Chinese people, is also a sacred national symbol of inviolability. Once, Lige, a popular anchor with 40 million fans, tampered with the national anthem during the live broadcast and sang it in a funny way, which she finally got his account blocked and was sentenced to five days' administrative detention by the local police and from then on, her fame plummeted. China is our bottom line, no one can override, insulting the national anthem will not only face administrative punishment, but also may face the high wall of prison.
On November 4, 2017, the Amendment to the Criminal Law(10) specifically stipulates the criminal responsibility of insulting the national anthem, ‘In public places, those who intentionally tamper with the lyrics and music of the National Anthem of the People's Republic of China, sing the National Anthem in a distorted or derogatory way, or insult the National Anthem in other ways which the circumstances are serious, shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph.’ Therefore, guarding the national anthem is not just a matter of words. It is the duty of every citizen to sing the National Anthem carefully.
There is one thing that also concerns national dignity and we use it every day, that is RMB! Do you know? It is illegal to intentionally damage the RMB. Someone can't help wondering: I understand the law and I know that I have the right to own money, I love to tear it up, why I break the law?
The reason is very simple, paper money not only has the function of macroeconomic regulatory and control of the market with the circulation of paper money in economics, but also the currency issued by the country, which is printed with many sacred national symbols and our shining important leaders on it which it is also the exclusive symbol of our country. Do you dare tear up money, who do you want to tear up? Therefore, Article 42 of the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Administration of RMB clearly stipulates that, ‘anyone who intentionally destroys RMB shall be warned by the public security organ and fined less than RMB 10,000 yuan’. Last March, a woman in Anhui was punished 1,000 yuan by the police for tearing up 20 yuan in public. In July of the same year, a man in Qinghai was warned and fined 1,800 yuan for tearing up 1,000 yuan in public to show off his wealth. These lawbreakers, ‘legal illiteracy’ is not enough to explain, can only say that ‘Causing the trouble no reason by the others’.
National dignity can not be trampled upon. Our country's laws are all-inclusive and can not be enumerated which it is really difficult to understand all the laws and regulations, but I believe that the laws and regulations concerning national dignity, every sincere patriotic, every Chinese who have the entire motherland in mind will not overstep! Devoting our country with winder bosom, only we carve the word ‘patriotism’ in our hearts and carry it out in action, can we write a wonderful life in the great practice of realizing the Chinese dream.
