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Page added on September 12, 2010
China’s one child policy may be relaxed: Overpopulation complexity
Chinese officials have begun launching pilot programs in five provinces that will ease the country’s one-child policy. Sources differ in the details, but It is expected that this shift in policy will be expanded in the coming years. USA Today reported that .The National Population and Family Planning Commission, which enforces the one-child policy, refused interview requests.
China has recognized for decades that its population numbers have taxed its lands resources. China is the world’s largest and most populous country. After a population build up, the country experienced a famine in 1962 that caused a reported 30 million deaths. Since that time China has experimented with policies to control births and since the 1970’s has instituted a one child policy.
The one child policy relies on a mix of incentives and penalties to control birth rates. Individuals suffer fines, social ostracizement. Reports of more forceful control measures, such as forced confinement and sterilization leak out onto the Internet.
The policy has been highly criticized, however since about 1979 the law has prevented 250 -300 million births, saving China from a population explosion the nation would have difficulty supporting. Unchecked growth appears unsustainable. Yet human rights activists have been aware of high numbers of illegal, but common, gender-based abortions. An April, 2009 study published in the British Medical Journal found China has 32 million more boys than girls under the age of 20.
The scarcity of females is just one significant issue facing China. A decreased population makes it difficult to support the countries elderly. Overpopulation has been called the world’s top environmental issue, followed closely by climate change and the need to develop renewable energy resources to replace fossil fuels, according to a April 2009 survey of the faculty at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF).
China population prospects as calculated by the Source: Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, World Population Prospects. These numbers are based on 2008 data.
YEAR/ Population in
1950/ 544 951-million
1955 /598 226
1960/ 645 927
1965/ 716 270
1970 /815 951
1975 /911 167
1980/ 980 929
1985/ 1 053 219 -billion
1990 /1 142 090
1995 /1 210 969
2000 /1 266 954
2005/ 1 312 253
2010/ 1 354 146
2015 /1 395 998
2020 /1 431 155
2025 /1 453 140
2030/ 1 462 468
2035/ 1 462 351
2040/ 1 455 055
2045/ 1 440 289
2050 /1 417 045
The controversy surrounding China’s attempt to control their population demonstrates the conflicts and ethical dilemmas inherent in the issues of overpopulation. The one child policy has created a kind of gender genocide. Yet unchecked growth appears unsustainable.
3 Comments on "China’s one child policy may be relaxed: Overpopulation complexity"
realityisnotfunny on Mon, 13th Sep 2010 12:07 am
Just compare:
Conflict and ethical dilemma’s involved with serious efforts to bring back population to ‘sustainable’ levels in an ‘organized’ way,
with
Mass starvation, resource wars, total devastation of the natural environment and eventual decimation that will inevitably follow human ‘population overshoot’…
KenZ300 on Mon, 13th Sep 2010 12:17 am
China is already souring the world trying to lock up supplies of oil, food and other limited resources.
Limited resources of oil,water and food will come head to head with an ever expanding world population growth.
Resources that could sustain a world of 5 billion people will stretched to sustain a world of 9 billion people.
Russia has stopped exports of wheat in order to ensure supply to it’s own people.
China has reduced exports of rare earth metals to ensure the supply for it’s own companies.
Oil exporting countries will stop exporting as the demand by their own citizens exceeds the supply.
Economic security and national security will depend on nations ability to supply their populations with food, energy and water.
Edpeak on Wed, 15th Sep 2010 8:31 am
Translation:
The gender bias and NOT the 1-child policy is what’s causing parents to behave this way.
So do you fix the messed-up gender biases and culture? Or so you decide two wrongs cancel out, so you keep the messed up culture and values around gender and also allow explosion in population?
Obviously 1) don’t force abortions with a gun to parents heads 2) don’t sit by and let anti-girl bias continue: do massive education against it
but the answer isn’t to “let ‘er rip” and have unbounded population growth either. I suspect the Chinese leaderships knows this, but whether the author of this piece does, or whether they’ve worked hard to clearly communicate this, is another matter.
This except at least is poorly worded: it makes it sound like you have just two choices, either you don’t care about gender equality, or you give up on all population control efforts. That’s not the case, but that’s what the except’s language makes it sound like