ID cards are de Rigueur worldwide. The majority of countries have some kind of national identification system. A small card makes it easier for people to identify themselves and to take part in social, political and other activities. But abuses or “authorized” abuse of the card may also cause problems and even encroach upon the basic rights of citizens.

China introduced the national identification system in 1985, when regulations on what was then called “residence identification card” were enacted. Over the past 18 years, the country has issued 1.14 billion ID cards and the number of actual card holders has reached 980 million.

The instate of the system was designed to better manage the population and protect the rights and interests of the citizens. But with the reform and opening up and the development of the socialist market economy, some of the contents of the original regulations have failed to meet the requirements of the economic and social development. In addition, some new situations and new problems have occurred in the implementation of the identification system, making the ID cards unable to display their due roles. Not long ago, the regulations have been upgraded to a law, with a number of substantial changes to the original rules, putting greater stress on constitutional rights of citizens.

This marks a new step forward toward legalization, modernization and standardization.

The upgrading of the regulations to the level of law means to upgrade the legal function of identification. With the ID cards, the citizens can do away with many other cards or certificates as it contains the 18-digit ID number, enough to contain all personal information. When the law comes into effect in 2004, it will have its due legal authority. It would be uncalled-for to demand any one to produce other cards. If detainment occurs due to lack of certificates other than ID cards, it would be a serious violation of the rights of person. The law clearly defines when and how the ID cards are used. Citizens are required to present their ID cards when there are changes in the items of residents’ registration, serviceman registration, marriage registration, adoption registration, going through procedures for going abroad and other circumstances as provided by law and administrative decrees. This has enabled the citizens to know when to carry and show ID cards. In a modern society, privacy, honor, credit and social security information are a kind of rights of identification in nature. The sabotage or encroachment of the personal information of citizens may bring about material losses as well as mental harm and affect their participation in social and economic activities, thus preventing the realization of many citizens’ rights. In this sense, the respect and protection of ID card means respect and protection of the citizens’ rights.

The new law has given the ordinary citizen a strong sense of rights. People are the subjects of social life and it is not necessary to identify oneself at any time and in any place. However, in the past, it was not uncommon that a person was suddenly stopped and demanded to produce ID cards when walking on the street and even when shopping. Every one was looked upon with suspicion. The new law tells that the citizens are no longer targets of suspicion but the masters of the country. The citizens are not obliged to take ID cards with them whatever they do or wherever they go.

In addition, the new law has extended the coverage of ID cards to include those who are denied of this right under the original rules, such as servicemen, police and prison inmates, as they are all citizens of the People’s Republic of China and should hold ID cards. This represents a leap forward in terms of democratic spirit and humanitarianism. In the same spirit, the draft law has laid down specific conditions under which the ID card can be checked or seized in order to prevent “ID Fraud”-he process of obtaining another person’s personal identifying information such as date of birth, then using that information to fraudulently establish credit, run up debt, or take over existing financial accounts and what is called “authorized abuse” of the cards, that is, the abuse of the government-collected information for a purpose other than that for which it was initially intended. The new law provides that no individual or institution can check, impound or seize it at will, which would be considered an infringement of the constitutional rights the card symbolizes.

The law, compared with the regulations adopted in 1985, focused more on safeguarding the citizens’ rights, says Ying Songnian, a member of the Committee for Internal and Judicial Affairs of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and law professor with the National School of Administration. According to the law, no organization or individual has the right to check or detain ID card except by the police on proper grounds. Even in the case of police check, the police are required to present their law-enforcement cards first and obliged to keep confidential any personal information obtained from citizens’ ID card.

By the draft law, Chinese citizens under the age of 16 will also be eligible to get ID cards, valid for five years. This will make it easier for minors to open a bank account, catch a plane or perform other tasks that require identification. The original regulations, which took effect in 1985, limited cardholders to people aged 16 years and above.

While highlighting the rights of ID cardholders, the new law restricts the power of police, according to the Law Sub-Committee of the NPC Standing Committee. It addresses concerns over random police checks of ID cards by specifying the conditions. The law requires the police to show their own cards to identify themselves as law enforcement officers before they check the ID cards, even those of criminal suspects or people who violate public security rules. The ID cards of ordinary residents can only be examined in special circumstances as stipulated by law and therefore there is no need for citizens to take their ID cards everywhere they go. The changes have been welcomed by some legislators, who worry that police may infringe upon the rights of citizens during random ID card checks.

The new law also provides punishment on policemen who check or detain ID cards to encroach upon the rights of citizens in violation of the law. If the cases are serious enough to constitute crimes, criminal responsibilities shall be affixed.

The new law has strengthened the cracking down of law-violating use of ID cards. A person who transfers or lends his ID card to other people or a person who uses the ID cards of other people and deliberately defames them shall be subject to a fine of up to 50 yuan or a warning. For other law-violating acts, the maximum fine is 1,000 yuan or an administrative detainment of up to 10 days. If ID cards are used to carry out criminal activities, criminal responsibility shall be affixed.

New ID cards will use IC technology against forging. The IC identification cards can be read by computers, which would make it possible for police to check huge numbers of ID cards in much shorter time than before.

It will take up to five years for the 1.3 billion Chinese people to switch from the first generation of ID cards to the second generation of smart cards system. The two cards will co-exist before the replacement is over.