Original article written by Yan Yang in Chinese.

In August this year, Guangzhou Police published a draft ordinance entitled “Guangzhou Municipal Government on Stricter Control of Knives for Public Safety.” The draft asks the public and society to give feedback about the new rules for purchasing kitchen knives. What stands out in the bulletin was of course the fact that people need to register their real names and make their purchases only at designated shops when buying kitchen and fruit carving knives for the duration of Asian Games. It is reported that when Guangzhou started trials of this new knife purchase policy in selected parts of the city, residents had to fill out a form registering their name, address, ID number, type of knife purchased, quantity and purpose of use.

 

Are we in the age of “real name registration”?
This is an age where our government has become keen on keeping things “registered with real names”. So far, we've got real-name registrations for making deposits at the bank, for buying train tickets, for mobile phone numbers etc. But in comparison, I have to say that I'm more than confused about how the name registration with kitchen knives is going to better protect the “safety of the public” per se. I mean, the fact that I tend to question the effectiveness of this “real-name registration with purchasing kitchen knives” doesn't at all take away from my earnest support for ensuring smooth running of the games. On the contrary, all I really want to do is to advise the authorities that perhaps they should not waste precious funds and manpower in implementing something so “useless”, but should focus instead on investing in better security measures for the Asian Games – in other words to come up with strategies that are truly effective.

Real-name registration for purchasing kitchen knives is obviously meant to try and keep those with criminal intent from buying “weapons of mass destruction”. But can such a registration system really stop those with intent to do harm from getting their hands on a weapon? I think not.

Knife registration, will it work?
Real-name registration for making deposits requires that each piece of identification is matched up with a bank account number; likewise, real-name registration with purchasing train tickets made sure that each ID is matched up to a passenger and a specific corresponding trip. And it's the same with mobile phone registrations: one piece of ID identifies a single mobile phone number.  Then what about registration with purchasing knives? Even though customer ID information is registered, there is nothing traceable to match the information up with – kitchen knives aren't branded with serial numbers; there are no manufacture dates and each kitchen knife manufactured by the same streamlined company look no different from any other. So how will the police trace the different knives to their owners? The usefulness of registering mobile phone numbers is still debatable; but it is obvious that this policy with the knives is even more difficult to make practical. 

First off, it is apparent from the get-go that real-name registration isn't really going to stop anyone with criminal intent from buying kitchen knives to do their deeds – for the obvious reason that the shop owners have no way of telling if the customer that just walked away with the pack of knives is really a blood-thirsty psychopath. Anyone with a piece of ID, even counterfeit identification, are able to purchase knives under the new ordinance. For those hardened criminals and ex-cons, if they are so bent on their evil ways, you really think they would be so short of weapons that a kitchen knife or two is going to better protect us from their wrath?

And also, as is the case with mobile phone registrations, who's to guarantee and protect the use of personal information collected from customers when they make their purchases?

As with all new enforcement of new policies, the cost and efficiency of the outcome must be considered. This new knife purchase policy will demand more time and energy from police personnel, shop owners and customers when complying with the different rules. It may not seem like much, but when you consider the dismal to no effects the “real-name registration with purchasing kitchen knives” will actually have, it is really such a waste. Any new law/ordinance will most definitely in some way affect and limit the rights of citizens. Although it is understandable that the rights of individuals sometimes need to concede to the benefit of the whole society (as in the case of better security for hosting the games), but the key point to consider is whether this kind of concession of citizens' rights is really worth it, whether it is truly for the public benefit.

What's the next  “real name registration”?
We need to keep away from “real-name registration dependency”, because registering IDs is not the answer for all faults with society. If we choose to implement registering IDs with purchasing knives for fear of people using it to commit crimes, then should we also do so with lighters, ropes, tapes, sledgehammers, sacks and other everyday items that “could” be used to threaten the lives of others?
 

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Source: blog. ifeng.com

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Keywords: real-name kitchen registration China kitchen knives Guangzhou Asian Games kitchen knife registration Guangzhou