family planning.
As beautiful as China is, every cloud has a dark lining. The family planning practices of the country is distorted by the inhumane family policy trajectory. The Chinese are up against a few population woes that includes an “out-of-control” fertility rate, a growing aging population, and a gender imbalance. For more than 30 years, the implementation of a one-child policy has been the accepted medium of birth control. Families are only allowed to have one child, but in observance of the traditional preference of boys, families in rural areas are permitted to have two children, in case their first born is a girl.
The grotesque reality of this policy rears its ugly head when injustices such as kidnappings occur at the municipal government level. It is reported that local officials confiscate children from house-holds that breach the policy. This practice began around 2000, “illegal children” are snatched from their families, put in orphanages, and put up for adoption. Micro levels of the planning include women aborting their female fetuses or families putting little girls in orphanages or up for adoption themselves. Though the government and its family planning policy cannot take full responsibility for the callous practices inflicted upon China’s most vulnerable population, the new leadership of the country, which is due to take over soon, should reevaluate the consequences of the policy and come up with a more humanitarian approach.
a shoe in.
The Diplomacy Delegation takes a site visit to the Children’s Village, a special service of the Shaanxi Provincial New Life Research Society, an independent and nonprofit charity. The Village is a safe haven for children that are abandoned as a result of the one-child policy, jailed parents, and a host of other unfortunate situations that may create orphans. The Village operates on a few principles that they hope will set their children on a prosperous path. They are as follows:
o Povide moral teaching and help children to complete
elementary school so that they may grow up healthy
o Conduct proper management to ensure a healthy life for the
children in the village
o Create opportunities to carry out research on the education
of the children and prevention from juvenile delinquency
On our visit, we toured the living quarters of the children, including their cafeteria, bedrooms, play areas, and resource center of the Village. It is evident that the Village does its best to create a cozy place for the children to learn and grown. Though it is located in a remote area outside of Xi’an, it is evident that the caretakers do the best they can to make the children feel like normal, everyday kids, despite their circumstances.
Other sources:
Xi’an City Travel Service. (n.d.). Society of Xi’an. [web]. Retrieved from http://www.chinauniquetour.com/xacity/service.asp?id=35
Chan, Z. (2011, October 24). Aiming for the ideal-sized Chinese Family. [web]. Retrieved from http://www.ecns.cn/in-depth/2011/10-24/3240.shtml
The Economist. (2011, July 21). China’s family planning: Illegal children will be confiscated. [web]. Retrieved from http://www.economist.com/node/18988496
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