CNA<\/a>).- For some 35 years, the population of China was strictly controlled by the Communist government\u2019s one-child policy.<\/p>\nParents were only allowed one child, and additional pregnancies meant forced abortions or hefty fines and penalties, such as the loss of a job. These additional children could be denied family household registration, which is the equivalent of denying them citizenship and basic services such as public transportation and education.<\/p>\n
There have been recent relaxations of the one-child policy. Alarmed by an aging population, shrinking workforce and potentially stagnating economy, government officials announced in 2013 that couples could apply to have a second child if either partner was an only child themselves. In 2015, the rule relaxed even further, changing from a one-child policy to a two-child policy for everyone.<\/p>\n
But what about the estimated 13 million unregistered second and third children, stuck in the cracks of a government policy that refused to recognize their existence?<\/p>\n
A short documentary entitled \u201cInvisible lives: The legacy of China\u2019s family planning rules\u201d from the Thomas Reuters Foundation explores the lives of these people.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think the Chinese government has realized the human rights catastrophe caused by the family planning rules,\u201d said Yang Zhizhu, an associate professor of civil law in Beijing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe family planning rules have always been a mistake. It\u2019s not that we don\u2019t need them now. It\u2019s that we never needed them.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2010, Zhizhu was suspended from teaching and fined $36,000 \u2013 nine times the average income in his district \u2013 for having a second child. Since then, Zhizhu has tried to come up with creative ways to fight the policy, including posting a photo of himself online trying to \u201csell himself\u201d to come up with the money for the fine, and being careful to write and record his experiences of injustice with the policy.<\/p>\n
In 2012, the university reinstated his salary, but he is still not allowed to teach.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t Zhizhu\u2019s plan to spend his life fighting the family planning rules, but because no one else seems to be doing it, \u201cI have to do it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Li Xue is another living casualty of the one-child policy. The second daughter to her parents, who couldn\u2019t afford to pay the fines that would allow her to be registered, Xue has spent her entire life hidden at home, watching her older sister go to school and have friends and get a job.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t get married without registration,\u201d Xue said. \u201cThen, if you have a child, your child can\u2019t be registered.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the one-child policy changed in 2015, it was unclear what that meant for unregistered people like Xue.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes I want to travel. But I don\u2019t have an ID, so I cannot. I cannot buy tickets,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Even though she was denied a public education, Xue has been studying law on her own to sue the police for her right to citizenship. In August 2016, she was granted registration, but has been unable to access state benefits, because she lacks records from the first 23 years of her life.<\/p>\n
The policy has also penalized unmarried parents. Liu Chunyan, a single mother, had to choose between paying an exorbitant fine \u2013 about $120,000 \u2013 or having her daughter be unregistered, and therefore forgo state benefits.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnplanned children, if they disappear one day, we don\u2019t even need to de-register them,\u201d Chunyan said. \u201cIt\u2019s sad. As if they had never been in this world.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the recent relaxation of the policy, it was announced in April last year that unregistered children could be registered without fines. Chunyan registered her daughter, who has since been attending school and struggling to catch up with the other students. So far, she has not been contacted about a fine.<\/p>\n
Zhizhu\u2019s family wants more children, but fears additional fines. When the policy changed to a two-child policy in 2015, several Chinese citizens told the New York Times that they weren\u2019t sure the new policy would make them want to have second children, citing the high cost of raising children in China.<\/p>\n
Another impact the one-child policy left in its wake is an imbalanced gender ratio. Poor and rural families often preferred boy children over girls, \u201csometimes even resorting to infanticide to ensure they have a son,\u201d the New York Times reported.<\/p>\n
So while many agreed that the one-child policy needed to change, they have viewed the new policies with trepidation. And it is unclear how long it will take culturally to change the minds of a generation who has been raised to believe that one child is best.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere has been progress over the years, but it doesn\u2019t live up to our hope,\u201d said Mrs. Zhizhu.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt takes many generations to create the society we wish for.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Beijing, China, Mar 5, 2017 \/ 05:31 am (CNA).- For some 35 years, the population of China was strictly controlled by the Communist government’s one-child policy.<\/p>\n
Parents were only allowed one child, and additional pregnancies meant forced aborti…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asia-pacific"],"yoast_head":"\n
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