China, with a population of 1.23 billion people—about 20 percent of the world’s total population—consumes 30 percent of the world’s cigarettes. According to Zhang Yifang, vice president of the Chinese Association on Smoking and Health, the majority of smokers in his country are either unclear on the health effects of smoking or believe that it is good for them. He says, “They think it will increase their stamina, cure boredom, scare away insects and even prevent diseases as they get older. There’s a popular saying that ‘If you smoke and drink, you’ll live to be 99.’”

Unfortunately, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal in 2001 that tracked the cause of death of over twenty-seven thousand men in Hong Kong, few Chinese smokers can look forward...