China Loosens Its One-Child Policy

[fallstuff]

China Loosens Its One-Child Policy

The Chinese government announced on Nov. 15 that it will loosen its notorious family-planning scheme, commonly known as the one-child policy. The new regulations will allow couples in which at least one parent is an only child to have two offspring. Xinhua, China’s official news agency, said the reform was designed to “steadily adjust and improve family planning policies.”

The reform is part of what the Chinese government earlier this week referred to as “fine-tuning” of its restrictive family-planning policy, which was unveiled in 1979. (Generally speaking, the scheme limited urban families to one child but allowed rural couples to have more than one child in certain cases.) The curtailing of reproductive freedom, its supporters contend, meant that 400 million fewer Chinese were born, allowing for an unprecedented economic boom over the past 30-plus years.

But critics have assailed the policy for both the human-rights abuses it gave rise to—forced abortions and sterilizations, to name just two—as well as its social costs, which are now multiplying. China today faces a dramatic increase in its elderly population, along with too few young people to take care of all these retirees. The nation must also contend with an alarming gender imbalance because some parents have terminated pregnancies of female fetuses in order to ensure a favored boy as their sole child. By some estimates, China will have an extra 25 million young males by 2020.



Read more: China Loosens Its One-Child Policy | TIME.com China Loosens Its One-Child Policy | TIME.com

 

[Srinivas]

This is what happens with one party system, they realized it after decades, and GOD only knows how many inhuman policies are still there in China.

 

[boomslang]

Nov. 15, 2013 2:46 PM ET
China to ease 1-child policy, abolish labor camps
By GILLIAN WONG

In this photo taken Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013, a child is watched over on the streets of Beijing, China. China announced a loosening of family planning rules that limit many couples to a single child in the first substantial change to the unpopular policy in nearly three decades, as leaders seek to address a rapidly aging population. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)


BEIJING (AP) — China's leaders announced Friday the first significant easing of its one-child policy in nearly 30 years and moved to abolish its labor camp system — addressing deeply unpopular programs at a time when the Communist Party feels increasingly alienated from the public.

Beijing also pledged to open state-dominated industries wider to private competition and ease limits on foreign investment in e-commerce and other businesses in a sweeping reform plan aimed at rejuvenating a slowing economy.

The extent of the long-debated changes to the family planning rules and the labor camp system surprised some analysts. They were contained in a policy document issued after a four-day meeting of party leaders one year after Xi Jinping took the country's helm.

"It shows the extent to which Xi is leading the agenda. It shows this generation of leaders is able to make decisions," said Dali Yang, a China expert at the University of Chicago. "This is someone who's much more decisive, who has the power, and who has been able to maneuver to make the decisions."

Far from sweeping away all family planning rules, the party is now providing a new, limited exemption: It said families in which at least one parent was an only child would be allowed to have a second child. Previously, both parents had to be an only child to qualify for this exemption. Rural couples also are allowed two children if their first-born child is a girl, an exemption allowed in 1984 as part of the last substantive changes to the policy.

Beijing says the policy, which was introduced in 1980 and is widely disliked, has helped China by slowing population growth and easing the strain on water and other limited resources. But the abrupt fall in the birth rate is pushing up average age of the population of 1.3 billion people.

Demographers have argued that this has created a looming crisis by limiting the size of the young labor pool that must support the large baby boom generation as it retires.

"It's great. Finally the Chinese government is officially acknowledging the demographic challenges it is facing," said Cai Yong, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

"Although this is, relatively speaking, a small step, I think it's a positive step in the right direction and hope that this will be a transition to a more relaxed policy and eventual return of reproductive freedom to the Chinese people," Cai said.

The government credits the one-child policy introduced in 1980 with preventing hundreds of millions of births and helping lift countless families out of poverty. But the strict limits have led to forced abortions and sterilizations by local officials, even though such measures are illegal. Couples who flout the rules face hefty fines, seizure of their property and loss of their jobs.

The update on birth limits was one sentence long, with details on implementation left to the country's family planning commission. It was unclear what might happen to children born in violation of rules, whose existence have been concealed and thus lack access to services.

Cai said some experts estimate the policy change might result in 1 million to 2 million extra births in the first few years. But he said the figure might be significantly lower because of growing acceptance of small families.

Last year, a government think tank urged China's leaders to start phasing out the policy and allow two children for every family by 2015, saying the country had paid a "huge political and social cost."

The China Development Research Foundation said the policy had resulted in social conflict and high administrative costs, and led indirectly to a long-term gender imbalance because of illegal abortions of female fetuses and the infanticide of baby girls by parents who cling to a traditional preference for a son.

The party also announced it would abolish a labor camp system that allowed police to lock up government critics and other defendants for up to four years without trial. It confirmed a development that had been reportedly announced by the top law enforcement official earlier this year but was later retracted.

Also known as "re-education through labor," the system was established to punish early critics of the Communist Party but has been used by local officials to deal with people challenging their authority on issues including land rights and corruption.

Pu Zhiqiang, a prominent Beijing lawyer who has represented several former labor camp detainees in seeking compensation, welcomed the abolition of the extra-legal system.

"There have been many methods used recently by this government that are against the rule of law, and do not respect human rights, or freedom of speech," Pu said. "But by abolishing the labor camps ... it makes it much harder for the police to put these people they clamp down on into labor camps."

"This is progress," Pu said.

Earlier this year, state broadcaster CCTV said China has 310 labor camps holding about 310,000 prisoners and employing 100,000 staff, although some estimates range higher.

The party report also promised to improve the judicial system and help farmers become city residents. It also elaborated on the party's previous announcement that it would set up a national security commission.

___

Associated Press reporters Didi Tang, Isolda Morillo and Ian Mader contributed to this report.



'Re-education through labor'. HAHAHAHAHA !!!!

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

It makes sense.

Demographic changes take several decades to take effect.

Small changes here and there can have a big impact on long term trends.

 

[sweetgrape]

india implemented the forced sterilization program during the rule by indira gandhi. This somewhat continues unabated in the failed state among many of the most anti-humanitarian stigma in the cheerleading society!

Indian Woman Sues Family Over Pressure to Abort Twin Girls | Prolife

Maybe, in india there are not inhuman policy or lay, but indian alway do inhuman action, even inanimal, you know!

On topic:
A good step, hope later the one-child policy can be lifted completly!

 

[Kolaps]

China Loosens Its One-Child Policy

The Chinese government announced on Nov. 15 that it will loosen its notorious family-planning scheme, commonly known as the one-child policy. The new regulations will allow couples in which at least one parent is an only child to have two offspring. Xinhua, China’s official news agency, said the reform was designed to “steadily adjust and improve family planning policies.”

...........................................

Read more: China Loosens Its One-Child Policy | TIME.com China Loosens Its One-Child Policy | TIME.com

One-Child policy was created by Henry Kissinger.

At the time China was accused as "Trying to Dominate the World with Massive Population".

Thank you for everyone who understand and support to ban NOTORIOUS One-Child Policy.

 

[shuttler]

One-Child policy was created by Henry Kissinger.

At the time China was accused as "Trying to Dominate the World with Massive Population".

Thank you for everyone who understand and support to ban NOTORIOUS One-Child Policy.

you are so childish
have you been on this forum long enough to understand the ills of overpopulation?
or are you appreciating indian's theory of "demographic dividends"?

 

[Ayush]

good step

 

[thesolar65]

good step

Now there will be no tension in the morning!!

 

[funtoosh]

it s good.. 2 children means replacement of population. if this works I think there will be a dip followed by a rise and stabilization.
only issue is that most people who will be eligible ar ethe city folks. Now the problem with city people is that they don't have time inclination to have a second child and also they need to consider costs. eg. when the economy improves automatically the fertility comes down, like Singapore Taiwan japan and now even in india. So will the mere lifting of rules ensure that the population will be lifted? Im not expert the coming decades will tell the answer

 

[Ayush]

Now there will be no tension in the morning!!

 

[xuxu1457]

People's idea changed, I and my wife only want one now, 20 years ago, people want more and more, bcs let a child grow up only need food and more children can feed parents when parents become older,
but now, breeding a baby is expensive, education，Medical，house, wedding......
two type will want more than 2 babies: 1. very very rich people(1million$ wealth);2. very very poor people(lost all hope for himself and hope one of his child can be kind to breed him when he becomes older and older, one man had told to his parents at another's Luxury wedding“since you did had 1million Yuan, why gave birth me?”)

Country is short of worker now, at the end of 2012, 764million Chinese were working in China, population of China is 1340million, in which 200million age>60, 280million age<18, only 860million people age between (18-60), Labor force decreased year by year since 2011, decreased 0.1% in 2011

 

[Jlaw]

One-Child policy was created by Henry Kissinger.

At the time China was accused as "Trying to Dominate the World with Massive Population".

Thank you for everyone who understand and support to ban NOTORIOUS One-Child Policy.

Henry Kissinger a well known Zionist. I hope chinese will have more kids, we have many hostile neighbors.

 

[tranquilium]

People's idea changed, I and my wife only want one now, 20 years ago, people want more and more, bcs let a child grow up only need food and more children can feed parents when parents become older,
but now, breeding a baby is expensive, education，Medical，house, wedding......
two type will want more than 2 babies: 1. very very rich people(1million$ wealth);2. very very poor people(lost all hope for himself and hope one of his child can be kind to breed him when he becomes older and older, one man had told to his parents at another's Luxury wedding“since you did had 1million Yuan, why gave birth me?”)

Country is short of worker now, at the end of 2012, 764million Chinese were working in China, population of China is 1340million, in which 200million age>60, 280million age<18, only 860million people age between (18-60), Labor force decreased year by year since 2011, decreased 0.1% in 2011

That's the whole idea. When people are poor, they literally has nothing to do but give birth to more kids, which in turn make them more poor and becomes a vicious cycle. By intervening through political will, China is able to raise the living standard and improve education. Nowadays the living standard has raised to a level where people are limiting the number of children by themselves.