<< back to table of contents

Comment: China's One Child Policy (by Justin Law and Raymond Liu)

The huge population growth over the past few decades has been a cause for concern. However, few countries have responded in the way China has, where the population has put pressure on its limited resources. Many people are moving to the cities, leaving less people to farm the land. Although China has one of the biggest economies in the world, the country is faced with a restriction by the government to stop the growth of the country for the reason that the population is much too high for the amount of space they have for residents.  This law is known as the “one-child law” and was implemented in China during the 1980’s.

The “one-child law” has targeted couples to limit the number of children they have. The policy has led to practices such as covering up female births and abandonment of female infants. Female children whose births are not registered do not have any legal existence and therefore may have difficulty going to school or receiving medical care or other services from the government. The overwhelming majority of children in orphanages are female or are mentally or physically handicapped.  Despite being forced to abort female fetuses and receiving severe financial penalties, many couples still get around the law by sending the pregnant woman away to stay with relatives until the baby is born or claiming that the newborn baby was adopted or belongs to a friend or relative.

What makes this situation so bad is that it brings up issues such as abortion and discrimination against females. Some environmentalists and population advocates such as Garrett Hardin to media mogul Ted Turner have actually suggested the rest of the world adopt similar policies. Regrettably for us, as Canadians, it is clearly seen that when you take a good look at the one-child policy, there is no doubt that it violates people’s human rights in a number of way.  Forced sterilization and abortions are becoming routine in certain regions where government officials have put extra care in enforcing the one child law.  Women’s rights are being taken away by means of threats of violence and loss of their family. These are the outcomes of the harsh tactics used for those who break this law.

The self respect of Chinese women and girls lessens drastically when they realize that their families would be much more caring if they were a boy instead.  In some cases, girls aren’t even sent to get proper education, which results in their being given low paying jobs, losing their self-respect, and strengthening the gender gap.

Since the population was growing so rapidly, the “one-child law” was the government’s best idea to solve their problem. Along with this solution there are specific details that have to be followed. A married couple can have one child, but if they were to have two children their circumstances would have to fall within one of the few exceptions such as filing for a second child if the first child was deformed or was a female.  When a couple has two children, and they do not fall into one of these few exceptions then it would be seen as a criminal act and they would be punished by way of a fine or an abortion, and by having one of the spouses sterilized. Furthermore, this law brings rewards to couples who have only one child. For example, a couple may be granted preferential treatment in the administration of loans, poverty relief initiatives, and social welfare programs.

There have been other, more drastic problems that have surfaced due to this policy, such as the killing of female infants because of a preference of boys over girls. Statistics also show that the number of males outnumber females by 60 million in China. Another problem is that there are many forced abortions that occur every year, so couples who have broken the law have a chance to “redeem” themselves by not getting caught by the government.

This whole policy of restriction to one child is very harsh and wrong. Though its aim of population control may be needed, the side affects of this policy are far more horrendous than having a large population. The lifestyle that the government has caused the residents of China to live in is detrimental to a world that is trying to bring forth gender equality and respect for human rights.

Sources

Carnell, Brian. “China’s One Child Policy.” Overpopulation.com. 12 November 2003. <http://www.overpopulation.com/faq/Population_Control/one_child.html>

“China Steps up One-Child Policy.” BBC News. 25 September 2000. 12 November 2003. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/941511.stm>.

“China Turns One-Child Policy to Law.” Center of Reproductive Rights. 12 November 2003. <http://www.crlp.org/ww_asia_1child.html>.

Maynard, Roy. “Human Rights Abuses in China.” 1995. 12 November 2003. <http://www.forerunner.com/mandate/X0046_Human_Rights_Abuses_.html>.

<< back to table of contents