Posted on 05/26/2008 8:56:33 PM PDT by robertvance
While it is a good sign that the government will allow affected families to have more children, I wonder how Chinese people feel about the wording of this policy exemption? The underlying message behind the government’s announcement seems to be that “we know that your injured son or daughter may be now completely useless so we will allow you to have another try.” In addition, the fact that Chinese parents in the region will not have to continue paying fines on dead children that the Chinese government never wanted to see born in the first place can hardly be construed as good news. Quite simply, these announcments are insensitive because they make Chinese children out to be items that can be ‘rented’ and easily replaced. The timing of these announcements, just a little over two weeks after the ocurrence of the earthquake, is also questionable. There are still thousands of parents who are grieving over the loss of their children or caring for injuries. It is doubtful that many parents are rushing to the government offices to find out when and if they can have another child.
(Excerpt) Read more at teachabroadchina.com ...
Makes one wonder of the saying ‘thinning of the herd’.
Gosh, I don’t know.... let’s see what Sharon Stone has to say.
There are a lot of government efforts going on around the world to “cull” unwanted populations in all sorts of ways. I gather when Fujimori was President of Peru, there was an extensive program to surgically sterilize peasant women.
One technique used in Africa was a vaginal suppository that would cause sterilization through scarring. How widely it was issued is a good question.
Because while governments do such things, they generally don’t brag about it, and keep it secret. Keeping track of it is doubly difficult, because rumors that government does such things are also common.
If there’s a silver lining in any of this, it might be that people over there might be sufficiently PO’d not to trust anything the government does or says any more.
We went to the cemetetary today to walk around a bit and honor those that have died. One area had numerous babies that had died. One day, two days old. Nice head stones, cards, toys, stuffed animals, etc. I could only think of the contrast in hearts between the parents of these children and those that so quickly turn to abortion as an option.
1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18. Comfort one another with these words. Pray for those in China who have lost loved ones that they will learn of the hope available in Christ.
This breaks my heart. A lot of those victims were almost certainly Christians. Their atheist government views children as replaceable as pets. Very, very sad. I know if we lost one of our children, our lives would never be the same again.
Umm, that’s not a direct quote of the policy. That’s a Clintonian, “this message seems to say”, and then words it intentionally heartlessly. Teach Abroad should be ashamed for lowering itself to the NY Times usual tactics.
Most Chinese, and the few Chinese government officials I have spoken with, do not like the one-child policy, but they understand it. When you’re just coming out of a hand-to-mouth agricultural economy for a billion people, you want to be a bit careful about creating too many more mouths to feed.
China’s government has also eased up on this policy in several ways. No more forced abortions or sterilizations, a second child is allowed in rural areas if the first is a girl (to help lower the number of aborted female unborns), and mostly monetary penalties for violations. That’s a radical improvement.
Remember, China is feeding 20% of the globe with only 8% of the world’s arable land... and this is in an economy where it is still more efficient and reasonable to hire numerous workers than to buy a modern farm machine. Unless you support a policy whereby China can start exporting a few hundred million (voting) people to other countries (any guesses as to which one might be the favorite?), we should try to be a little less hyperbolic in the face of a human tragedy like the recent earthquakes.
I would be careful before stating so confidently that there are “no more forced abortions or sterilizations” in China. You might want to read this article that among others suggests that forced abortions are still being performed in China
You are correct. I did overstate that. I meant to communicate the fact that their “official position” is “no more forced abortions”, but this is China... it certainly does still happen. However, the frequency can certainly be said to have decreased significantly since international shame was brought to bear.
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