The 2008 Beijing Olympics and the ongoing Shanghai World Expo are splendid events that gain face for China on the global stage. Yet, the nation might lose face big time for not adhering to its pledge of banning smoking in public.

The World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), ratified by the National People's Congress in August 2005, will take effect next January. From the little progress made in the past years, meeting the target set by FCTC in seven months' time seems like "mission impossible".

No major city, such as Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou, has successfully banned smoking inside workplaces or public places, let alone the hundreds of smaller cities and the vast countryside.

Minors never seem to have problems buying cigarettes, despite local regulations, such as one in Shanghai, prohibiting such a practice years ago.

Advertising by tobacco companies is not hard to find, albeit in a more deceptive way. The huge billboard, "I love Chung Hwa (China)", is making a mockery of both people's patriotism and the country's commitment to implement the FCTC, since everyone knows that Chung Hwa stands for a pricey cigarette brand of the Shanghai Tobacco Company.

What's more outrageous is that some schools in poor rural areas have been named "Tobacco Hope School" simply because they are funded by tobacco manufacturers. I am not sure what kind of hopes these companies are going to bring to our children.

Public awareness about the ill effects of smoking is still low despite China losing more than a million lives each year due to smoking-related diseases.

Unlike many countries that show decayed teeth and blackened lungs on its packs, Chinese cigarette case packs could easily win international laurels for being attractive or seductive.

Equally ridiculous is that the State Bureau of Tobacco Control, the world's largest tobacco producer, has been one of the government entities in charge of the smoking ban, a mission that is contrary to the goal of tobacco producers.

That is probably why Zhang Baozhen, the bureau's deputy chief, said two weeks ago that banning smoking would affect social stability. It also gives us some clues as to why the number of smokers keeps growing and why it's so difficult to make indoor workplaces and indoor public places smoke free.

Unlike New York City where I live now and where Mayor Michael Bloomberg is the most active campaigner for smoke-free public places, few top leaders at various levels of government in the Chinese mainland seem bothered enough to take the smoke ban seriously, although smoking has been a major health hazard, both for the 350 million Chinese puffers and 540 million passive smokers.

Banning smoking is something that is mentioned only by secondary leaders once a year, usually on the WHO World No Tobacco Day on May 31. But the show this year must be less fun for those leaders since the FCTC deadline is approaching fast.

The Ministry of Health, which announced this month the ban on smoking in all indoor public places and workplaces nationwide starting next January, is hardly capable of fulfilling the mission alone, given the time, power and resources available.

Experiences show that everything is possible if the government throws its full weight behind a policy, from banning shirtless people out on the streets in Beijing to pajama wanderers in Shanghai. Keeping the FCTC pledge requires stronger political commitment by top leaders. Actions speak louder than words.

Unless we start to demonstrate our serious commitment now, our obsessively face-loving nation will truly risk losing face, big time.

In fact, losing face is trivial as the deep-rooted smoking culture and its health threat will hurt our nation in a much more profound way.

E-mail: chenweihua@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 05/25/2010 page8)