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China’s one-child policy has become a controversial topic for numerous years. Many believe that this was a necessary step for the Chinese government to take in order to combat the issue of overpopulation that was taking place in China. However, others argue that the morality of this rule was severely poor and was not worth continuing. I had previously heard of China’s one-child policy, but I never considered all of the factors that went into this rule. I concluded that the policy seems like a violation of rights, so it should not be acceptable to carry out. However, after further reading and discussion with my classmates, my disagreement regarding the one-child policy has only become more solidified. It is evident that China’s one-child policy has more negatives than benefits, and the benefits are not worth risking the negatives in this case.
Previously, I was under the impression that China’s one-child policy restricted every family from bearing more than one child, but, to my surprise, this is not the case in every circumstance. According to a YouTube video from Now This World, Jules Suzdaltsev explains, “It only affects about a third of China’s population, making exceptions for ethnic minorities and rural residents. It also often does not apply if a couple’s first child is female. New rules in 2013 also allowed parents without siblings to have up to two children”. This was surprising to me because although not all citizens were affected by the policy, there were many forced abortions, forced sterilizations, and several missing women as a result of the rule. In fact, the Chinese government claimed that over 400 million births were prevented.
Those who claim that this rule was necessary for the well-being of China and its citizens believe that it reduced the strain on resources that was becoming a great issue by reducing the population competing for those resources. The government was able to gain the confidence of its citizens by creating the one-child policy to give the impression that they had the situation under control. Jules Suzdaltsev claims that the policy was supported by more than three-fourths of the population of China (‘Why China’s One-Child Policy Failed’). It can be assumed that a likely reason for such a dramatic number of citizens supporting this rule was the government’s control over the media. This gave the Chinese government the power to manipulate the impression citizens received to make it seem like it was causing more benefits than negative consequences.
Nevertheless, several individuals view the one-child policy as an immoral act that violates human rights, including myself. In an article by Matt Rosenberg, he states that “… there is evidence of sex-selective abortion, neglect, abandonment, and even infanticide of infant females”. Female children were viewed as less valuable, and most families preferred to have a son as their only child. Therefore, the lives of female infants often ended in hopes of conceiving a male child. Many females who were born were often given up for adoption for this reason as well. The one-child policy resulted in many undocumented women who were unable to work, get an education, and more because the government was unaware of their existence. If the government were to discover that a couple who are only permitted to have one child actually had more than one, the couple could face fines, unemployment, and various other negative consequences. Therefore, oftentimes, women were left with no choice but to have abortions if they became pregnant with a second child. Each of these negatives highlights the Chinese government’s violation of women’s rights and bodily autonomy.
As a result of the decline in the female population due to the preference for male children, additional problems are arising. There are now more men than women in China, so there are limitations to reproduction. Chinese citizens have to bring females from other various locations for men to have a spouse to reproduce. Consequently, this is creating a cultural impact on China. China values its culture greatly, and this is somewhat becoming disrupted because of women from other countries impressing their culture on China. During a group discussion in class, one of my classmates made an interesting statement that I had never considered. She questioned whether importing women from other countries could be unintentionally increasing sex trafficking. I was unaware of the process of transporting women from other countries, but upon further research, I discovered that these women are bought and sold. Heather Barr explains in an article: “The women and girls being trafficked are often ethnic or religious minorities, from impoverished communities, or, in the case of North Korea, on the run from their own abusive regime”. Therefore, the one-child policy has not only resulted in numerous immoral deaths but has also created an increased issue in trafficking women.
Lastly, there is now the issue of caring for the elderly. There is a significantly higher number of elderly individuals than younger generations due to the one-child policy. In Chinese culture, it is expected for younger generations to care for their parents and grandparents when they become elderly. However, due to a decrease in the population of younger individuals and fewer people having siblings, all of the responsibility is placed on one individual (‘Why China’s One-Child Policy Failed’). It is also likely that because of the decrease in population of younger citizens, the economy will begin to suffer in the years to come because of the significantly higher number of older individuals retiring or passing away, and there are not enough younger individuals to fill their positions.
It is evident that China’s one-child policy created many tragic consequences that are undoubtedly immoral and eventually harmful to Chinese society and economy. However, I do not believe that the Chinese government intended for these consequences to occur. If there were not such a preference for male children over female children, this policy may not have resulted as negatively. On paper, this policy seems like a decent idea that will decrease population and prevent overpopulation from continuing to be an ongoing issue that puts a strain on resources. However, it is inevitable for detrimental issues to arise with policies such as this one, which is why it should not have been implemented, and it should never be a considered policy elsewhere. The policy resulted in increased death and abortion rates, increased trafficking rates, and a decline in the Chinese society and economy, and these negatives are much too detrimental to consider the benefits worth implementing the policy.
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