BEIJING - Chinese lawmakers on Dec 29 weighed in on a fiery online debate on whether fireworks should be used to ring in the Chinese New Year in February, saying a total ban on pyrotechnics in the country credited with inventing them would be hard to implement.
In an unusually frank response, lawmakers said air pollution prevention laws and fire safety regulations have led to “differences in understanding” of the ban on fireworks, which was never absolute.
In 2017, official data showed 444 cities had banned fireworks. Since then, some cities have scaled back curbs, allowing fireworks at certain times of the year and at designated venues.
In December, however, many counties rolled out notices prohibiting fireworks, rekindling discussion on the ban.
“We’ve the right to fireworks,” wrote a user of Weibo, a popular Chinese microblog.
According to folklore, the earliest fireworks were invented 2,000 years ago to drive away “Nian”, a mythical beast which preyed on people and livestock on the eve of Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival.
Since then, fireworks have been used to celebrate other occasions: in January 2023, after three years of Covid-19 curbs were lifted, some people defied bans – and the authorities – and set off firecrackers.
But some Chinese said the fireworks bans were necessary to protect the environment.
“It should be regulated due to pollution and safety (fire) hazards,” a Weibo user said.
In an online poll by the official Beijing Youth Daily this week, however, over 80 per cent of respondents expressed support for fireworks during the Spring Festival, the most important holiday on the Chinese calendar.
Some also said the ban was ironic after the United Nations on Dec 22 adopted the Spring Festival as an official holiday, a move cheered by Chinese officials.
“The Spring Festival belongs to the world, but China’s is almost gone,” wrote another Weibo user.
In southern Hunan province, a major fireworks manufacturing hub, exports totalled 4.11 billion yuan (S$767.7 million) in January to November, state media reported, far exceeding domestic sales. REUTERS
