On Dec 7, the local environmental protection bureau of Quyang county, North China's Hebei province, said on its official WeChat public account that two local residents were detained for burning low-quality coal. Beijing News comments:

The incident aroused fierce criticism online, with many questioning the decision of the Quyang authorities, asking what law had the two residents broken.

In the face of the angry public response, the Quyang authorities responded by saying that the two residents were detained because they continued to use "bad quality" coal after being instructed to stop.

The facts remain to be known.

However, one thing is certain: The two residents have really been detained, and their fault is "burning bad quality coal". Yet there is no legal clause clearly prohibiting residents from burning any coal they choose.

Some say the local authorities of Quyang took the move because they were under great pressure to fight air pollution; Bad-quality coal pollutes the air several times more than good-quality coal. Past records even show that the Quyang authorities openly claimed 10 moves would be taken to fight pollution in late November, one of which is "detaining those who pollute the air".

However, that cannot justify the residents' detainment, for which there is no legal support. Only the law can limit a citizen's freedom, and the decision of the local government of a county cannot go against the law.

If the Quyang authorities really mean to curb the use of bad-quality coal, they have many more measures available. For example, they can act against those who sell bad-quality coal and crack down on the profit chain behind it, or prepare good-quality coal and provide it to residents at affordable prices.

Instead, they have chosen the most controversial measure. Let's hope the local officials of Quyang learn a lesson from the incident and root rule of law in their own hearts.