China Reportedly Makes It Illegal to Deface and Turn Upside Down Its National Flag

The Chinese government has changed a law to make it a criminal offence to deface or intentionally insult its national flag, according to AP News. The changes reportedly made to the National Flag and National Emblem law, which were reportedly passed on Saturday, October 17, by The Standing Committee of China’s congress, will make liable for criminal responsibility and investigation anyone who burns, tramples upon, or defaces its flag in public.

    In 2017, The Standing Committee set the level of police detention to up to a maximum of three years for those who sabotaged the symbols of the Chinese nation, including its flag and national anthem.

The law is also said to prohibit the presentation of the flag upside down, or displayed in any way that is meant to broadcast insult.

The legal change comes on the heels of a series of protests in Hong Kong over the past year which saw protestors regularly burning and desecrating the Chinese national flag in public. Three protestors have reportedly been charged with criminal offences in the territory over the destruction of the flags.

The new legal changes will come into law on January 1 2021, and will be blankety applied across mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao.