BEIJING, China- If the level of world fertility remains at its current levels, in just 150 years the world population will reach 296 billion. Overpopulation is a concern that while no longer as frequently addressed is still highly relevant.
There will be 125 million births in the world this year, and by the time this group is ready to start school, 625 million more will be born. To alleviate the concerns associated with this rapid growth of population, China had implemented a one-child policy in 1979.
What this entailed is relatively self-explanatory. Each family and household was allowed a maximum of one child. The last 30 years have resulted in a mixture of feelings in response to this policy.
Authorities claim that between 1980 and 2000 the policy has been able to prevent 400 million births. However, the population growth check has been called outdated and cruel. It has created a demographic crunch within cities, forcing second-generation only-children to care for two parents and four grandparents, known as the “4-2-1” phenomenon.
This law has, according to human rights groups, coerced women into abortions. These are primarily sex-selective abortions, with boys traditionally being favored over girls. This idea of men being superior to women has even allowed rural families to have a second child if the first-born is a girl. This has caused a rift in gender dissociation that experts predict will leave an estimated 24 million men unable to find wives.
China has been largely successful because of its massive workforce, and the subsequent exporting capability. As a result of the one-child policy, the Chinese government will be left with a largely unemployable older workforce. By 2050, more than a quarter of the population will be over 65.
In light of all this criticism, China has revealed a range of reforms that will affect tens of millions of people. Its two major concerns are loosening the one-child policy and abolishing the controversial labor camps that officials subject many of its citizens too.
This was released in a 22,000 word report released Friday, after the third plenum, a closed door annual meeting of the top 400 party leaders.
The extraordinarily unpopular labor camps were put in place in 1957 has been used to clear the streets of petty criminals, targeted political dissidents and members of banned religious groups. These people are prosecuted without due process, and many human rights groups say that the number of detainees can reach millions.
Called ‘re-education through labor,’ the system was established at the height of Maoist fervor to put a stop to ‘counter-revolutionaries.’
“Because re-education through labour was so closely associated with political persecution, because conditions in the camps are so horrific, and because there have been decades of pressure for China to abandon this system, we should take this as a positive step,” said Nicholas Bequelin, a Hong Kong-based senior researcher for Human Rights Watch.
Moreover, the changes to the one-child policy, though minor, are equally positive steps.
China’s state newswire Xinhua reported, “couples in which one member is an only child will be allowed to have two children.” Before, this only applied to couples in which both parents were only children. Some groups, such as ethnic minorities and disabled people were also allowed two.
The document delineated the Communist party’s plans to improve the social welfare programs and ease migration restrictions in the rural residents who are trying to move into cities. There will be increases in oversea investments and funding for smaller banks and financial institutions.
While the report appears promising at first glance, it is riddled with inconsistencies. Officials have promised to uphold the country’s institution, an institution that promises freedom of assembly and speech, though it nevertheless, also promises to crack down on Internet crimes and strengthen public opinion guidance. This is a sign of the upkeep of Internet and media censorship.
Rana Mitter, professor of Chinese studies at Oxford University has stated that while the party appears to be making changes, these all remain superficial. “[The party] is in no way going to relax its grip on power. It doesn’t suggest the greater liberalization or pluralization of politics,” he stated.
– Chloe Nevitt
Feature Writer
Sources: The Guardian, BBC, World Population Awareness
Photo: FPA via Telegraph