After years of renewed debate about the country's morality, China passed its 'Good Samaritan Law' on October 1. The new law stands to protect those who voluntarily come to the aid of others.
The legislation now states that anyone who helps someone they believe to be ill, injured, in danger or incapacitated will now have protection from the law and will be exempt from civil liability in the event that any harm should befall those they try to help.
READ MORE: Exploring The Bystander Effect in China
The law comes after multiple infamous cases have attracted attention both at home and across the globe in relation to morality, ethics and compassion.
One of the most notorious cases took place in 2011, when two-year old was run over by a truck. A total of 18 passerby then proceed to ignore the child lying in the street, who was eventually hit by another vehicle, later dying in hospital. It took a whole seven minutes before someone came to help after the horrific accidents.
Similar stories routinely appear in the headlines of other news outlets that present a hesitance in strangers coming to the aid of their fellow citizens over the fear of extortion cases that equally fill headlines.
These such cases find those helping others regularly blamed and harassed by those they help over medical fees. A number of cases have seen Good Samaritans taking their own lives after being blamed for the injuries of the strangers they helped.
Acts of compassion have not been completely lacking in China however, as pedestrians in Huizhou recently came to the aid of a trapped driver after a collision left him stuck in his vehicle. No action was taken against his saviors.
Unfortunately, though, such eventualities aren't overly common.
To combat this back in 2012, China's State Council published a paper outlining ways to help Good Samaritans, after which cities slowly began to implement their own Good Samaritan Laws, such as Shenzhen a year later and Shanghai in 2016.
This law now applies nationwide.
[Image via Monica Renata]
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