Words, Words, Words

China One-Child Law Reworded

Human Rights – China is attempting to change the face of its infamous one child policy. Considering the country’s failing struggles to keep its people free of undesirable international influence, it’s no surprise.

The first thing to go is the traditional, iron-fisted message, instead replaced by “upbeat” messages that seek to “make family planning work keep pace with the times and go deep among the masses.”

Consider the change.

Old: “If sterilisation or abortion demands are rejected, houses will be toppled, cows confiscated.”
New: “Lower fertility, better quality; boys and girls are all treasures.”

In addition to downplaying the threat, some new slogans seek social reform from traditional values associated with the one child policy: that male children are more valuable. One such example that does have an air of threat to it is: “Mistreatment and abandonment of baby girls is strictly prohibited.”

The change in rhetoric is unlikely to influence policy, though. The one-child policy has, however, softened with time, and allowances are made for “multiple groups, including ethnic minorities and the mothers of disabled children.” These groups are granted rights to a second child, though no concessions are made beyond that.

While family planning is beneficial for the nation in nearly every facet, its manner of family planning and the outdated values that it brings to the surface are more than detrimental, they’re destructive, and are always going to keep China and nations similar to it at distance from nations who’ve recognized that human and civil rights are as important a part of modernization as industry.

Read more at the Guardian.