World Expo should refuse tobacco funds
- Source: Global Times
- [21:50 July 13 2009]
- Comments
Recently, 20 public health experts jointly proposed that the Shanghai World Expo should refuse any sponsorship from the tobacco industry. This proposal was aimed at the 200-million-yuan ($29.27 million) sponsorship from the Shanghai Tobacco Group.
It’s true that corporation sponsorship is one of the main sources of funding for the World Expo, but accepting money from the tobacco industry is obviously shortsighted and doing more harm than good.
The theme of Shanghai World Expo – “Better City, Better Life” – reflects our ambitions for a better living environment and better quality of life, and tobacco is certainly not part of that. Considering the “smoke-free” Beijing Olympics received acclaim around the world, a “smoke-free” Shanghai World Expo has been widely and strongly recommended for a long time. Accepting the sponsorship clearly runs counter to both the theme of “Better City, Better Life” and the “smoke-free” concept.
The Chinese government has signed the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) launched by the World Health Organization (WHO). The FCTC, which entered into force in China in January 2006, explicitly requires that contracting states shall undertake a comprehensive ban of all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, especially in international activities. Accepting the 200-million-yuan sponsorship has seriously violated the FCTC and Chinese government’s solemn commitment to Chinese people and the whole world.
Actually, this sponsorship is not so important to the World Expo, because the government is not short of money. The budget for the World Expo was guaranteed by the central government as early as 2001, and the organizers of the World Expo set up a special fund ($100 million) in 2002 to help developing countries participate.
Consequently, publicly refunding the money will be a good way to repair the damage that has been done to the image of both China and Shanghai.
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