[whisk]

I am pretty sure China doesn't have a restriction on laser pointers. There are laser pointers up to 1W for sale on taobao.com

[k_sze]

Just because they are on Taobao doesn't mean they are not against the law.

From my own observations, law enforcement in Mainland China is mostly reactive when it comes to product safely. They don't enforce a law unless something becomes an actual, big enough problem - especially if it threatens (the image of) the people in power.

[seanmcdirmid]

China doesn’t have strong rule of law, so the law might exist but just being ignored until convenient to enforce.

[tlrobinson]

And in case it’s not obvious, they’re incredibly dangerous to eyesight. They’ll literally blind you before you can blink.

[computerfriend]

It really depends on the power. The lasers the protesters use wouldn't blind you due to the blink reflex. If what you're saying was true, hundreds of police officers would be blind right now.

[tlrobinson]

I was referring to the 1W lasers the parent commenter mentioned, but yes of course.

A volunteer at Burning Man was blinded in one eye a few years ago: https://journal.burningman.org/2015/03/black-rock-city/tales...

[greesil]

I seem to remember some dodgy street vendors in Sanlitun hawking these things.

[codeswap]

This is in HK. A city in China but in an autonomous region. Communist China has different laws.