China’s Mask Slips
Chinese e-cig manufacturer share prices took a tumble as experts called for a crackdown on the industry and a total ban looms large for Hong Kong
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by Dave Cross
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What could be prompting such activity?
As we pointed out last year, “China runs its own tobacco company as a state monopoly, producing more than 1.7 trillion cigarettes each year for its 350 million smokers which raises well over £1.5 billion in profit. In 2003, this income accounted for almost 10% of China’s total revenue.” (1)
The income it receives from tobacco dwarves vape revenue. It is convenient for the nation to focus on ecigs rather than address the Asian elephants in the room.
China was laughably lauded by the World Health Organization for adopting “the best buy (MPOWER) measures to reduce tobacco use” – despite it being the world’s largest producer and consumer of tobacco products
Some might point out that by attacking the vape industry, which it does not own, will sit well with the anti-vaping World Health Organization, and thereby allow the nation to continue to profit from supplying tobacco products to the region.
To this end, the recent statement from a representative of the Tianjin Lawyers Association's professional committee for the protection of minors is very convenient. Claiming that vape shops in Tianjin and Shenyang were selling to teens, he said: “E-cigarettes pose a safety hazard to minors, and further efforts should be made to crack down on the sale of e-cigarettes to minors”.
He didn’t comment on the danger of them smoking instead but did refer to the World Health Organization’s bogus claim that vaping is a gateway into smoking.
This happened at the same time as the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health calling for a total ban on vape and heated tobacco products. Oddly enough, it didn’t call for tobacco products to be banned.
The Council’s chairman, Henry Tong Sau-chai, then lied: “Health risks associated with the use of heated tobacco products have been proven by scientists.”
The Council has been behind some ludicrous studies in the past, its statement coming with the release of another one “proving” heated tobacco is worse than smoking.
Kelvin Wang Man-pang continued the fiction by stating: "Two thirds of citizens supported a total ban on alternative smoking products including HTPs and e-cigarettes, including 40 percent of current smokers,” and that claims products like e-cigs help smokers quit are “unsubstantiated”.
Once more, smokers are being thrown under the bus along with any semblance of honesty by public health activists and politicians with their failed quit or die approach.
References:
- Shenzhen Shutdown - https://www.planetofthevapes.co.uk/news/vaping-news/2020-10-15_shenzhen-shutdown.html
Photo Credit:
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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