Hello Internet and what’s going on?
My name’s Jack Finch, and today I’ll be your host as we take a look at 5 Scary Chinese
Laws That Should Be Illegal - right here, on Top 5 Scary Videos.
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China is a beautiful country - steeped in thousands of years of ancient history - and
a rich, vibrant culture.
But - modern China has recently seen a stint of incredibly controversial laws and domestic
policies - that have affected the way it’s people go about their day to day lives.
So - without further adieu, let’s get started - shall we?
Starting us off at Number 5 - we have … Fireworks!
Now - fireworks are a pretty big deal in China.
They were originally invented in Medieval China during the 9th century in an attempt
to scare away evil spirits.
Globally, they are recognised as one of the four great inventions of ancient China - and
were derived from a natural application of gunpowder.
Every year over 1.2 billion dollars worth of fireworks are exported to the United States
alone - purely for their 4th of July celebrations.
So - it kind of makes you wonder about a particular Chinese law that forbids householders from
storing more than a tonne of explosives in their basements.
I mean - that kind of makes sense - until you realise that for this law to even exist,
there must have been a /pretty/ high number of people storing over a tonne of explosives
in their own homes.
That is a hell of a lot of fireworks.
Bringing it in at Number 4 - we have the … Don’t Eat .. My Wife … Law?
Okay - now this one is a little bit of a head scratcher - so just bare with me.
There is an ancient - obscure law that dates back to ancient China - but is still technically
enforced to this day.
Cannibalism is regularly detailed throughout chinese history - and was often practice as
an obscure type of culinary appreciation.
Even executioners would regularly eat the hearts and brains of criminals that they had
dispatched.
So - a law that states a Chinese man can’t eat another man’s wife … intentionally
- as in, part of a meal - kinda makes you question what the hell was going on.
Does it mean he /can/ eat her if she’s not part of a prepared meal?
What if he finds himself eating unintentionally?
Is that still illegal?
Next up at Number 3 - we have the Emergency Response Law.
This is where we turn this a little bit serious, and take a look at how China’s more recent
policies have stemmed the flow of information in their own country.
As we covered before - China heavily relies on state censorship to stem the flow of media
information that their citizens can get their hands on.
A lot of things are just straight up /blocked/ on China’s internet - and one particular
law, dubbed the Emergency Response Law - was sold as preventing the spread of false information
during times of disaster.
With the intention of stopping people from straight up lying and spreading false information
during emergency situations - what China has actually done is completely muzzle the media
from providing their citizens with critical, life saving information.
This means that coverage of industrial accidents, such as factory explosions - or even natural
disasters such as earthquakes - are rarely reported, with fear of provoking social unrest.
They literally turn a blind eye - and people’s lives are sadly lost.
Closing it in at Number 2 - we have the One Child Policy.
First introduced in 1979 as part of China’s family planning policy - the One Child Law
was incredibly controversial on a global scale.
Before the 1960s - the government encouraged families to have as many children as possible,
and China’s population grew /very rapidly/.
After that - Chairman Mao’s blueprint of the one child limitation was put into action,
in fears of an overpopulation crisis.
According to the Chinese government - over 400 million births were prevented in the first
decade.
Families were physically prevented from having more than One Child - with some couples paying
thousands for IVF treatment, so they could have twins - which were legal.
Governments imposed fines for any violations, and local commissions carried out inspections
to make sure no children were being hidden by a household.
It’s crazy stuff - and although recently the Chinese government has changed its one
child policy to a two child policy - the memory of the One Child era still lingers.
And finally - at our Number 1 Spot - is the Presidential Term Limit.
Okay - we’ve covered this one before, but it still deserves to be at the number one
placement.
Purely for the fact that any democratic society should offer a limitation to leadership - because
if not, we essentially just end up getting a dictator.
In March 2018, the National People’s Congress passed a constitutional amendment that officially
put an end to Presidential and Vice-Presidential term limits.
This formally allows now head of state, Xi Jinping, to stay in power beyond 2023 - and,
more than likely, forever.
Generally - Xi Jinping is a pretty chill dude, and holds an incredibly popular vote throughout
the majority of China - after his anti-corruption campaign won him huge popularly with the Chinese
people.
But - the point is - if things go wrong, and that popularity changes - the Chinese people
no longer have a vote out.
Interesting.
Okay folks - that’s all we’ve got time for today, we hope you’ve enjoyed this video
- you’ve been watching Top 5 Scary Videos -
I’ve been your host Jack Finch - and until next time, take it easy.