China china Population Control

China believes its population control policies are important if living standards throughout the country are to be improved. China is a communist country. This means that laws are usually made for the good of the nation as a whole, rather than for the individual.

China’s Population Control Programme In 1971 the Chinese government adopted the “later, longer, fewer” policy in response to the country’s rapid population growth. This aimed to delay marriage, increase the time between children and to limit the size of families. Between 1972 and 1979 the birth rate dropped from 30 per thousand to 20 per thousand and the average age of marriage rose from 18 to 23 for women.

By 1979 the Chinese government was not happy with progress and it introduced the “one child policy”. As well as requiring permission from planning officials to become pregnant, Chinese were subject to other measures: Benefits for couples with only one child: - free education for one child. - guaranteed work for the child. - increased pension for the parents. Penalties for couples with more than one child, or for illegitimate children: - deduction of income.

By 1982 the government was still not happy with progress and more measures were introduced: - compulsory sterilisation after the second child. - abortion made compulsory for all non- approved pregnancies.

Billboard promoting birth control

This graph shows the effects of the government’s policies on China’s population growth in the 1970s and 1980s.

In 1988 the “one child” policy was relaxed in some rural areas in response to pressure from peasant farmers. Peasants whose first-born child was a girl were allowed a second pregnancy after four years.

Poster of Chinese birth control policy under the slogan "Sweet Achievement." By the year 2000 the Chinese government was stating that their population control policies had been successful in preventing more than 250 million births since the 1970s.

Birth Rates, Death Rates and Natural Increase

So China has been successful in achieving dramatic reductions in its birth rate and slowing down its rate of population growth. But what about the Chinese people? How have they been affected by their government’s strict population control policies?

Critics say: “There is no reproductive freedom in China. People are not free to decide when they have a child or how many children they would like to have.” “The government uses methods like forced abortions and sterilisations, instead of encouraging the use of contraception, because it does not trust its own people.” In Tibet, the Chinese authorities have forced women to have abortions and to submit to being sterilised.

It is within China's notorious population programme that women in Tibet face the most widespread human rights violations. There are detailed accounts of physical force being used against women who are dragged from their homes and beaten in preparation for 'birth control operations'. A disturbing account, 'China's wanted children' (Yin, 1991) was compiled by Liu Yin, a Chinese who was allowed to accompany a birth control 'task force'. Liu Yin's report documents a raid on a village in which houses are stormed and women carried out in blankets to be taken for sterilisations and abortions.

In a report presented to a United States Congressional Delegation, two Buddhist monks from Amdo (Eastern Tibet) gave a harrowing account of a mobile birth control team which arrived in their village during the autumn of They reported that all women in the area were ordered to have sterilisations and abortions and those who resisted were taken by force. According to the monks, all women of childbearing age were sterilised, and 30 to 40 women a day were operated on. When they finished, team members moved on to the next village. The monks described women crying as they awaited their turn for the operation, heard their screams and watched a growing pile of foetuses outside the tent.

Mao Hengfeng was dismissed from her job in 1988 when she became pregnant with her third child, violating China's family planning regulations. Mao, already the mother of twins, refused to have an abortion and gave birth successfully while she appealed to the court for the return of her job. She subsequently did abort a fourth pregnancy under pressure from the authorities. She failed to regain her job, and has since petitioned authorities tirelessly on family planning issues.

She has been detained many times and has reportedly been subjected to torture and ill- treatment. She served various terms of "re-education through labour" and has been forcibly confined to psychiatric facilities. She was detained by police in May 2006 and charged with "violating the terms of residential surveillance." Mao Hengfeng She was placed under "soft detention" in a house in Shanghai, where she was beaten by police and forced to share cramped quarters with six other people sent to monitor her.

“Female infanticide, or the killing of girl babies, is widespread. The social pressure to produce male children, combined with enforcement of the “one child” policy, meant that thousands of girl babies were murdered shortly after birth in the hope that their parents would be allowed another pregnancy.” “As China has become wealthier, more couples have access to ultrasound technology. This has resulted in increasing numbers of abortions of female foetuses.”

“The number of men is thought to outnumber women in China by more than 60 million. There will be lots of males who will unable to find a marriage partner and they face the prospect of never becoming a father.” “There are 99 cities in China with a ratio of more than 125 boys for every 100 girls. The worst affected city, Lianyungang, has a ratio of 165 boys to every 100 girls among children aged under 5 years of age.” “In Guizhou province the media have reported the existence of ‘bachelor villages’ in which most men of eligible age are unable to find a bride.”

“Despite forced abortions and severe penalties, many couples get around the law by sending the pregnant woman to stay with relatives until the baby is born.” “The 'one child' policy has worked better in the cities than in the countryside because it is easier to police.” “Wealthy couples are able to beat the control measures by using fertility medicine to have multiple births. There are no penalties for couples who give birth to twins or triplets.”

“Because of the population control policies China faces an uncertain economic future. The total population will begin to decrease in size within the next 25 years and the proportion of elderly people in the population is rapidly increasing.”

China 2025 China 2050 Age Structure of China’s Population in 2025 and 2050