China claims to have 'prevented' 400 million births after one-child policy: Report

In an editorial piece written in the Times of Israel, author Fabien Baussart noted Chinese women's "consternation and anger" at the Xi Jinping-led Communist Party (CCP) after the government came up with its new directive on population control last September. According to the South China Post report, "the State Council said it will 'reduce the rate of abortions needed for non-medical reasons,' as a part of its efforts to improve women's health, according to a series of new guidelines addressing issues related to women and children in the country." This reformation along with others in the past has infuriated Chinese women.

The current announcement fuelled widespread outcry among Chinese women, who took to Weibo (an system similar to Twitter) to point out that the "female body has become a 'tool', to promote population control in the country," ANI reported. It is to be noted, China began its one-child policy in 1979 to curb population growth. As per the Times of Israel article, the government, despite thousands of fatalities due to forces abortions, had claimed to have "prevented" 400 million births.

Noting the "abusive and coercive" population policies implemented over time, a Chinese woman wrote on Weibo that "when (the state) wants you to bear a child, you must do it at all cost. When (the state) doesn't want it, you are not allowed to give birth even at the risk of death."

China Population Control melee

The "disastrous" policy was suspended in 2015 after observing the negative impact on the economy. In the following year, Beijing introduced the "two-child policy" to bolster population growth. However, by then most citizens preferred single child due to the growing expenses and lesser income, Baussart wrote in The Times of Israel. About five years later, the Xi Jinping-led CCP passed the "three-child" policy. It is to be noted that the population measures for decades allowed the Chinese government to "literally" decide the number of abortions. "Now it is going to decide how many women should not have abortions," Baussart wrote.

Concerned by census figures in 2020 (12mn), which was 6mn less than 2016 (18mn) and the working-class population the Chinese government in May decided to liberalise its child-birth policy. Last May it announced that it will come with "supportive measures which will be conducive to our improving country's population structure, fulfilling the country's strategy of actively coping with an aging population and maintaining the advantage, endowment of human resources," Baussart mentioned in his article. Lastly, academics have also pointed that the government's policies are "going in the opposite direction of women's human rights."

With inputs from ANI

Image: AP (representative)