People in China found to be smoking tobacco in places where such activity is prohibited could find themselves subjected to travel restrictions, according to a Reuters report citing rules due to come into effect on May 1.
China has reportedly said it will begin applying its social credit system to flights and trains, under which people who have committed misdeeds would be barred from taking such transport for up to a year.
A story by Paul Huang for The Epoch Times, meanwhile, described the social credit system as an experiment that international observers had speculated would be the next step in China’s transformation into a total surveillance state.
Citing two statements issued on the National Development and Reform Commission’s website on Friday, Reuters said the people who would be put on the restricted lists included those found to have committed acts such spreading false information about terrorism and causing trouble on flights, as well as those who used expired tickets or smoked on trains.
Those found to have committed financial wrongdoings, such as employers who failed to pay social insurance or people who had failed to pay fines, would also face these restrictions, said the statements, which were dated March 2.
The Reuters report is at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-credit/china-to-bar-people-with-bad-social-credit-from-planes-trains-idUSKCN1GS10S.
The Epoch Times report is at: https://www.theepochtimes.com/chinas-orwellian-social-credit-system-to-begin-banning-people-from-planes-trains_2468296.html.
Smoking or non-smoking?
