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China: Traitor tag for forced abortion couple
‎
By JOSH CHIN
BEIJING—A woman finding herself at the center of a firestorm over China's one-child policy after local officials forced the abortion of her seven-month-old fetus said she was being kept in the hospital against her will and that her husband has disappeared.
A screenshot shows one of a series of photos circulating online that show 23-year-old Feng Jianmei after she was forced to undergo an abortion seven months into her pregnancy.
The woman, 23-year-old Feng Jianmei, said Wednesday that she felt heavy pressure following suggestions that she and her family were traitors for discussing her situation with foreign media.
Ms. Feng made the comments a day after state media reported new punishments for local officials involved in her case.
Speaking by phone from her hospital room, Ms. Feng said that aside from a persistent headache, she was gradually recovering from the procedure earlier this month and would gladly return home if she were allowed to leave.
"Right now, I feel the hospital is like a prison," she said. "I feel huge pressure, especially after the 'traitor' slogans started appearing in town."
Ms. Feng said she didn't know what the status was of her husband, Deng Jiyuan. Family members say that since Sunday his whereabouts have been unclear. There has been no official comment from authorities on Mr. Deng's whereabouts.
Mr. Deng last week told The Wall Street Journal that he had planned to bring his wife to Beijing from their home province of Shaanxi, in northwest China, but had been thwarted after unidentified men prevented them from getting into a taxi at the hospital late Friday night.
Mr. Deng's mobile phone was turned off on Wednesday.
A woman answering the phone at the Shaanxi Zhenping County Hospital, where the abortion was carried out, confirmed that Ms. Feng was still there but declined to answer any other questions.
The forced termination of Ms. Feng's pregnancy unleashed a torrent of outrage in China and elsewhere in mid-June after graphic photos of her lying on a hospital bed next to the aborted fetus, a girl, were posted online. Family members say Ms. Feng was detained by local family planning officials and forced to have the abortion on June 2 after she and Mr. Deng, who already have a five-year-old daughter, failed to come up with the cash to pay a 40,000 yuan ($6,284) fine for having a second child.
The case has fed public anger over forced abortions and sterilizations carried out under the auspices of the country's one-child policy. Although forced late-term abortions are illegal under Chinese law, experts say they are still ordered by local family planning departments under pressure to meet birth quotas set by the central government.
Authorities in Ankang, the city where Ms. Feng lives, had earlier vowed to investigate the case and punish those responsible. On Tuesday night, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported that the Ankang government had dismissed Jiang Nenghai, the head of the family planning bureau in Zhenping, the county where the abortion took place. One other local official was fired and five others received warnings or administrative demerits, Xinhua said.
Speaking from the hospital, Ms. Feng's sister-in-law, Deng Jicai, said the family was unsatisfied with the government's response. "At this point, all they've done is punish a few leaders, but they haven't done anything to the people directly responsible for dragging my sister-in-law in to have an abortion," she said. "They haven't pursued a single person for criminal liability."
Ms. Deng also called on authorities to identify those responsible for directing protests over the weekend during which people marched outside the family's home carrying banners that read "Thrash the Traitors" and calling for the family to be kicked out of the village.
According to local media reports, the protests were organized by local authorities in response to an interview that Ms. Feng's husband conducted with a German journalist.
People answering the phone at the Ankang public-security bureau and the Ankang Family Planning Propaganda Center both declined to discuss the case.
Ms. Deng said her brother called her sister-in-law briefly Tuesday to tell her to look after herself but didn't say anything else.
Chinese social-media users roundly mocked a photo of the protest banners posted by the Deng family on popular Twitter-like microblogging service Sina Weibo. "What era are we living in that something like this can happen?" wrote Zhang Chong, an IT executive. "Who are the real traitors here?"
Chinese Woman in Forced-Abortion Case Claims Harassment - WSJ.com
BEIJING: China's one-child policy came under fire from the country's internet users when the father of a baby, who was forcibly aborted in Shaanxi province, went into hiding. The incident came as an embarrassment to the Shaanxi government with reports saying the father was beaten up by people angry with his decision to abort the baby. His wife was labelled a traitor.
Feng Jianmei, a 23-yearold mother, was forced by officials to terminate her seven-month old pregnancy in early June causing outrage with tens of thousands of angry postings by Chinese internet users.
Internet users pointed out that Feng Jianmei suffered humiliation because of her failure to pay hefty fines. The government policy is seen to be favouring the rich because a family coughing up roughly $6,286 is allowed to have a second child.
What angered local officials were interviews given to the foreign media by the dead baby's parents.
Officials were quick to dub them as "traitors" saying the family was giving a "bad name to the country."
"We are already heartbroken from losing the baby. How did we become traitors ?" Deng Jicai, the baby's father's sister, said. Discussing the interview with foreign media Jicai said the family did not seek to benefit from the story. "My sister-inlaw mainly stated what she had experienced," she said.
Pregnant Chinese woman forced to abort baby at seven months 'is being kept in hospital against her will' | Mail Online
‎
By JOSH CHIN
BEIJING—A woman finding herself at the center of a firestorm over China's one-child policy after local officials forced the abortion of her seven-month-old fetus said she was being kept in the hospital against her will and that her husband has disappeared.
A screenshot shows one of a series of photos circulating online that show 23-year-old Feng Jianmei after she was forced to undergo an abortion seven months into her pregnancy.
The woman, 23-year-old Feng Jianmei, said Wednesday that she felt heavy pressure following suggestions that she and her family were traitors for discussing her situation with foreign media.
Ms. Feng made the comments a day after state media reported new punishments for local officials involved in her case.
Speaking by phone from her hospital room, Ms. Feng said that aside from a persistent headache, she was gradually recovering from the procedure earlier this month and would gladly return home if she were allowed to leave.
"Right now, I feel the hospital is like a prison," she said. "I feel huge pressure, especially after the 'traitor' slogans started appearing in town."
Ms. Feng said she didn't know what the status was of her husband, Deng Jiyuan. Family members say that since Sunday his whereabouts have been unclear. There has been no official comment from authorities on Mr. Deng's whereabouts.
Mr. Deng last week told The Wall Street Journal that he had planned to bring his wife to Beijing from their home province of Shaanxi, in northwest China, but had been thwarted after unidentified men prevented them from getting into a taxi at the hospital late Friday night.
Mr. Deng's mobile phone was turned off on Wednesday.
A woman answering the phone at the Shaanxi Zhenping County Hospital, where the abortion was carried out, confirmed that Ms. Feng was still there but declined to answer any other questions.
The forced termination of Ms. Feng's pregnancy unleashed a torrent of outrage in China and elsewhere in mid-June after graphic photos of her lying on a hospital bed next to the aborted fetus, a girl, were posted online. Family members say Ms. Feng was detained by local family planning officials and forced to have the abortion on June 2 after she and Mr. Deng, who already have a five-year-old daughter, failed to come up with the cash to pay a 40,000 yuan ($6,284) fine for having a second child.
The case has fed public anger over forced abortions and sterilizations carried out under the auspices of the country's one-child policy. Although forced late-term abortions are illegal under Chinese law, experts say they are still ordered by local family planning departments under pressure to meet birth quotas set by the central government.
Authorities in Ankang, the city where Ms. Feng lives, had earlier vowed to investigate the case and punish those responsible. On Tuesday night, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported that the Ankang government had dismissed Jiang Nenghai, the head of the family planning bureau in Zhenping, the county where the abortion took place. One other local official was fired and five others received warnings or administrative demerits, Xinhua said.
Speaking from the hospital, Ms. Feng's sister-in-law, Deng Jicai, said the family was unsatisfied with the government's response. "At this point, all they've done is punish a few leaders, but they haven't done anything to the people directly responsible for dragging my sister-in-law in to have an abortion," she said. "They haven't pursued a single person for criminal liability."
Ms. Deng also called on authorities to identify those responsible for directing protests over the weekend during which people marched outside the family's home carrying banners that read "Thrash the Traitors" and calling for the family to be kicked out of the village.
According to local media reports, the protests were organized by local authorities in response to an interview that Ms. Feng's husband conducted with a German journalist.
People answering the phone at the Ankang public-security bureau and the Ankang Family Planning Propaganda Center both declined to discuss the case.
Ms. Deng said her brother called her sister-in-law briefly Tuesday to tell her to look after herself but didn't say anything else.
Chinese social-media users roundly mocked a photo of the protest banners posted by the Deng family on popular Twitter-like microblogging service Sina Weibo. "What era are we living in that something like this can happen?" wrote Zhang Chong, an IT executive. "Who are the real traitors here?"
Chinese Woman in Forced-Abortion Case Claims Harassment - WSJ.com
BEIJING: China's one-child policy came under fire from the country's internet users when the father of a baby, who was forcibly aborted in Shaanxi province, went into hiding. The incident came as an embarrassment to the Shaanxi government with reports saying the father was beaten up by people angry with his decision to abort the baby. His wife was labelled a traitor.
Feng Jianmei, a 23-yearold mother, was forced by officials to terminate her seven-month old pregnancy in early June causing outrage with tens of thousands of angry postings by Chinese internet users.
Internet users pointed out that Feng Jianmei suffered humiliation because of her failure to pay hefty fines. The government policy is seen to be favouring the rich because a family coughing up roughly $6,286 is allowed to have a second child.
What angered local officials were interviews given to the foreign media by the dead baby's parents.
Officials were quick to dub them as "traitors" saying the family was giving a "bad name to the country."
"We are already heartbroken from losing the baby. How did we become traitors ?" Deng Jicai, the baby's father's sister, said. Discussing the interview with foreign media Jicai said the family did not seek to benefit from the story. "My sister-inlaw mainly stated what she had experienced," she said.
Pregnant Chinese woman forced to abort baby at seven months 'is being kept in hospital against her will' | Mail Online
