BEIJING — China proposed expanding a nationwide campaign against drunk drivers to include penalties against their passengers.

The proposal released by China's Ministry of Public Security over the weekend calls for fines for passengers riding in cars with a drunken driver and increased jail time for repeat drunk drivers, the official China Daily newspaper reported today.

No details were given as to how the law would be implemented. Calls to the Ministry of Publish Security rang unanswered early today.

The plan follows a two-month crackdown on drunken driving that included road blocks, heftier fines, 15-day jail terms and six-month license suspensions.

In one case, a 30-year-old man was sentenced to death after killing four people in an accident in southwestern Chengdu — reportedly the first time China issued the death penalty in a drunk-driving case. The sentence was later reduced to life in prison.

Enforcement of laws against drunken driving has traditionally been lax and police easily bribed or otherwise persuaded to expunge convictions.

However, a recent spate of highly publicized drunken driving incidents this year sparked outrage in the media and on the Internet. The issue tapped into disgust over China's yawning gap between the rich and poor after a young man driving his father's Porsche SUV hit and killed a 16-year-old waitress in August.

Drivers in Beijing can be cited as drunk if they have a blood-alcohol level at or above 0.02, much lower than the U.S. limit of .08.