Heartache In China

Okay so this morning I log into Facebook and begin scrolling down my news feed to catch up on the latest when I come across an article about China's One Child Policy (brought to my attention by one of the pages I "like") and I suddenly realize how naive I am. I mean I knew the policy existed or should I say I thought the policy "had" existed, so seeminly with my head in the sand I was unaware that this type of tragedy still exists in this day and age, not only does it exist it is supported and encouraged! This is more devastating than a tragedy and in fact goes beyond normal human understanding. Now I am not racist in any way, but I must admit that I do wonder what type of people are ruling over China when they can turn such a blind eye to the plight and suffering of their own people?

September 25, marked 30 years of the Chinese government's infamous one-child-per-couple policy. On that date in 1980 the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party sent an open letter to party members setting forth its plan to embark on a national one-child policy.
What came out of that letter? A cruel and inhumane policy, a human rights violation that is, in scope and seriousness, the worst human rights abuse in the world today. No other government policy anywhere else in the world systematically punishes, abuses, and violates women so grossly as this. 

Seriously, what is wrong with the world when this type of abuse, this type of tragedy is still going on? It certainly makes you realize that there is a sea of suffering right outside your door and that maybe the thing that ticked you off a few minutes or hours ago really isn't worth getting so stressed out about.

The policy limits most urban women to one child – and permits most women in rural areas to have a second child only if the first is female. That is, brothers and sisters are illegal in China. So are children of unwed mothers – they are all killed by compulsory abortion. The policy further requires all women to obtain a birth permit before becoming pregnant, and monitors the reproductive cycles of all women of childbearing age through a system of mandatory, regular, and crudely invasive physical check-ups.

Women are put under extreme pressure to abort all "out-of-plan" children – this is heightened by an atmosphere of fear, created by paying anonymous pregnancy informants, and by denying birth permits to co-workers and neighbors of women with an "out-of-plan" pregnancy. The brave pregnant woman who refuses to give in is usually detained and beaten – or, if she goes into hiding, her relatives are detained and beaten. Families that succeed in hiding an "out-of-plan" pregnancy are punished with fines up to ten times the average annual income. If they can't pay, their "out-of-plan" children are denied right to health care, education, and marriage.

The result of one-child policy in culture with son-preference has been widespread sex-selective abortion of daughters – gendercide. Over 120 boys are born for every 100 girls. In some provinces 140 boys are born for every 100 girls. Tens of millions of Chinese men will never be able to marry because potential wives don't exist.

This is the world of the one-child policy, a system of repression that has been traumatizing hundreds of millions of Chinese women for thirty years. It's no wonder – and so sad – that Chinese women have a sky-high suicide rate – over 500 women commit suicide every day in China, and, according to the WHO, China is the only country in the world where more women than men commit suicide, and the female suicide rate is three times the male.

Again I ask myself, what type of person/people are ruling over China and this barbaric policy? It defies belief and understanding and leaves me heartbroken...

Source:
Smith, Franks, Human Rights Leader Mark 30th Year of Brutal 'One Child Policy' in China