Beijing-Tianjin Passenger Successfully Sues Train Operator After Encountering Secondhand Smoke

On Monday, Jun 25, a student who traveled between Beijing and Tianjin in June of last year won a landmark case in which she sued the train operator for damage suffered by secondhand smoke.

The plaintiff, appearing under the pseudonym Li Hua, sued the China Railway Harbin Bureau Group Co., arguing that during her journey on Jun 9, 2017, she encountered a strong smell of smoke throughout the carriage she was traveling on. That was despite having booked an air-conditioned soft sleeping compartment and there being signs stating smoking was fully prohibited on the train, Beijing News reports (in Chinese).

Li Hua also argued that not only did no one actively discourage commuters to smoke on the train, the train staff were also partaking. Additionally, she noted that even if smokers were encouraged to only light up between cars, secondhand smoke still affects the non-smoking passengers.

The court ordered the Harbin Railway Bureau to compensate Li Hua RMB 102.5, cancel smoking areas on the train and dismantle the train's astrays within 30 days of the verdict, enforce the prohibition of smoking in all areas of the train, and also symbolically compensate the victim RMB 1 for psychological damage.

Although the verdict does not stretch to other train providers, we can assume that Li Hua's case can only act as an impetus for change. Given the numerous attempts that the government has made to reduce smoking throughout the country, it seems that its latest campaign is working to educate the public as to the detrimental effects of both first and secondhand smoking.

That being said, progress after the 2015 Beijing citywide smoking ban has so far been slow, with a number of high-profile cases coming to light recently including three airline passengers who were jailed in April for smoking after lighting up on the tarmac after a long-haul from the capital, foreigners intent to smoke on Beijing's subway, and even ongoing cooking of the figures by government English mouthpiece China Daily.

Photo: zeenews.india.com