The nation's first legislation to regulate bad public behavior such as spitting and littering is being drafted in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province. Many are applauding this pioneering effort. However, the heated debate on whether the urban management bureau should enforce the proposed regulations has also come with controversy.

According to a report by China Youth Daily Wednesday, the draft to promote civilized public behavior also stipulated that chengguan, or urban management officers, could punish those guilty of the 10 most common uncivilized actions in public places such as spitting and cutting in line. Many believe that this means chengguan will be granted more power once the draft is approved.

City management is often troubled by bad public behavior. Normally, people restrain themselves in public through a sense of morality, but when morality cannot guarantee social civility, laws are needed to punish this kind of behavior. In this sense, Shenzhen's legislative effort has some positive significance. Singapore has set up a good example in this respect. Bad public behavior such as drunken driving and spitting can be punished with heavy fines. But it is the police who have the right to fine violators in Singapore, as well as other countries and regions such as Japan and Hong Kong.

It's worth discussing whether Chinese chengguan can legally be given the power to punish bad public behavior. Shenzhen is now mired in a chengguan outsourcing controversy. Gong Bo, a chengguan in Shenzhen, was stabbed to death by a street vendor last year when he was enforcing the law. Gong was hailed a hero who lost his life in the line of duty, but he was later found to be a member of a local criminal gang who had signed outsourcing contracts with the urban management bureau but often blackmailed vendors. 

The Shenzhen urban management bureau stated on Monday that the city won't stop its chengguan outsourcing due to huge responsibilities.

Under such conditions, allocating more tasks to chengguan and giving them more power is very likely to result in more conflicts and abuse of power.

Combating uncivilized public behavior through legislation is laudable, but the local government should reflect more on how to guarantee civilized methods of law enforcement by chengguan.