The mainland's anti-smoking campaign has suffered a publicity fiasco, as a senior executive of online search giant Baidu, hailed by authorities as a model supporter of tobacco control, is set to join the board of the world's biggest cigarette manufacturer.
Twenty activists, health officials and academics signed an open letter yesterday urging Jennifer Li Xinzhe, Baidu's chief financial officer, to turn down an offer by Philip Morris to serve as an independent director, which is subject to approval by the tobacco company's annual general meeting in New York today.
The letter comes as a desperate call after attempts to change Li's mind, involving meetings with Baidu executives, failed in the past month.
Tobacco control activists are concerned the move will give the cigarette maker an edge in building its reputation with Baidu's online influence and increase its sales on the mainland, as well as setting what they see as a bad precedent for other senior executives of companies with social influence.
The mainland is racing against time to honour its commitment to have a 'thorough indoor smoke-free environment' by 2011 after it ratified the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2005. So far, a complete indoor smoking ban has not been achieved in any mainland city. The Ministry of Health said only on Monday that it would start banning smoking in hospitals.
Baidu, which banned smoking in its office building in Beijing and sponsored several anti-smoking advertisements, has been regarded as a model enterprise in the nationwide drive. In March, it was the only company invited by the Ministry of Health to speak at an event to promote the smoking ban in hospitals.
The Chinese Association on Tobacco Control, a non-profit organisation headed by Vice-Minister of Health Huang Jiefu , issued a letter to Baidu early last month after overseas media reported Philip Morris had picked Li to join its board.
