20 February 2001
Kei Huynh

Today in the Daily Mail I was horrified as I opened the centre pages with the headline "Birth Control (Chinese style)". Even before reading I already knew the whole story from the photographs printed. Delving into the article I discovered the true horror of China's one child policy. The photos showed a dead newborn baby girl still with its unbilical cord. Her body was ignored by passers-by as if it were an everyday occurrence.

Last summer I took my auntie who was visiting from Switzerland to Middlesborough to see her cousins who were visiting from China. The husband was a Naval seaman and the wife was a civil servant. They showed us a picture of their son, aged 6, who looked very cute.

Jokingly I said, "Why not have another one?"

Straight away they replied, "Never, because of China's One Child Policy." A second child would mean a heavy fine for the family (equivalent to a year's average salary) and the reduction of favourable 'economic welfare' for the family. The wife told me that a male colleague of hers already had a girl and tried desperately for a boy. Their second child resulted in a fine and her colleague had his pay cut was also demoted in his job. Their second child turned out to be another girl and consequently he totally rejected his wife.

There is a Chinese saying that your baby is "your own flesh and blood so it does not matter whether it is a boy or girl, as long as the baby is healthy". But deep down they want the first born to be a boy because the male carries the family name and is expected to look after the parents when they get old.

China is a place where people still fear to speak out publicly in criticism of the government for fear of reprisal. If people do speak out (usually the young and students), they and family members get punished. Stories abound of people 'disappearing'. Significantly, it is said that they force women against their will to abort babies causing unimaginable shock to the body and mind, even sterilising them without their consent. I for one would not want to live in a society with so much control over my everyday life.