By intern reporter Lan Fang

From Caijing Magazine

The blaze that engulfed the TVCC building reignited a hot debate on whether the government should ban or restrict fireworks usage.

On the night of February 9, the local police tried three times, in vain, to stop CCTV from lighting the dangerous fireworks. The following inferno claimed the life of a firefighter and at least 3 billion yuan in economic losses.

An embodiment of China, fireworks is an iconic image of the Spring Festival. For over 2000 years, fireworks rang out the old year and rang in the new. However, some Chinese believe the tradition may be dangerous and harmful to the environment, arguing that the government should return to the policy of banning the elaborate displays.

In late 1980s, losses caused by fireworks increased continuously nationwide. After the Spring Festival of 1988, there were loud protests against fireworks. The National People’s Congress restricted the production and display of fireworks that same year. The Beijing government followed suit, restricting and finally banning fireworks in 1993.

This policy, however, soon became the target of another group.

Without fireworks, many felt that the holiday lacked a sense of festivity. Some more traditional revelers ignored the ban and continued to light fireworks. To prevent this, the Beijing government invested money and human resources to enforce the policy, but to no avail.

Gradually, the public began demanding that the government lift the ban. In 2004, at the Beijing People’s Congress and the Beijing People’s Political Consultative Conference, a few deputies suggested changing the ban to a restriction. Beijing then officially lifted the ban and put restrictions on firework displays on September 9, 2005.

Four years later, fireworks lit during the Chinese New Year (January 25 to 31) have caused a total of 103 fires and 403 injuries, triggering anew the debate on banning or restricting fireworks.

“Fireworks provides a heightened sense of Chinese identity, albeit with some personal and environmental risks,” a professor at Tsinghua University told Caijing. “If the government resorts to banning fireworks, it will both hurt a Chinese tradition and damage public awareness of the effectiveness of the law.”

The fireworks industry also supports over 6,000 manufacturers in China, which creates many jobs and provides economic benefits to local governments, such as Qiyang County and Liuyang City in Hunan Province and Shangli County in Jiangxi Province.

“Changing the ban into a restriction means the legislative authorities must take more responsibility for accidents, which inevitably will lend greater support to the ban. For law enforcement authorities, it will increase their power,” an expert who asked to remain anonymous told Caijing. “The TVCC fire should be blamed on the violation of safety regulations rather than the restrictions on fireworks.”

Full article in Chinese: http://magazine.caijing.com.cn/templates/inc/chargecontent.jsp?type=1&infoid=78477&ptime=20090215