Chinese Government: Emphysema is Awesome!
China, unlike the US, doesn't have separate companies for marketing tobacco products - they have a state-owned monopoly company that provides 99 out of every 100 cigarettes sold in the country. That means, of course, that the government can't sue the company to release documents relating to, say, marketing efforts to kids; it also means that the government isn't likely to allow the company's sales to suffer.

So when it comes to, say, cancer or other lung diseases, hypertension, premature wrinkles, and the like, the Chinese government's own company denies that any of them are linked to cancer.

Listen to this:
"Cigarettes prevent ulcers."
"Cigarettes reduce the risk of Parkinson's disease, relieve the symptoms of schizophrenia, and boost your brain activity."
"You are more likely to get cancer from cooking than smoking."

All of these are statements that have come out of the company's mouthpieces at one time or another, in the last year. All of them are intended for marketing their product. And last I checked, all of them were false everywhere but China. Perhaps they have some sort of magic cigarette?

Two-thirds of Chinese men smoke, and of those, 90% believe that cigarette smoking has little to no effect on their health. Few Chinese doctors are aware that cigarette-related illnesses will be the death of 33% of Chinese patients in the future. All in all, there are 360 million active smokers in China, which is 20% more than the entire population of the United States.

I can't believe anyone would ever worry about the Chinese taking over the world. At this rate, they won't live long enough.