China’s Population Purge: The Diabolical One-Child Policy
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Published 2024-02-01
Their solution was the infamous One-Child Policy that restricted the number of children a couple could have. Today on A Day In History, we explore the diabolical ways that China enforced this policy through deception, intimidation, sterilization, and murder. If this sounds interesting to you, go ahead and like this video and subscribe to the channel for more historical videos like this.
The One-Child Policy
The One-Child policy was not a single law but a general policy guideline issued by the CCP and enforced by various local and provincial governments. A letter from the CCP’s Central Committee issued on September 25th 1980 which explained the need to control population to avoid economic collapse in the near-future is usually pointed to as the beginning of the policy. The policy was revised and reinforced several times over the years, such as in the creatively titled Document Number 7 in April 1984 and Document Number 13 in May 1986, but local governments had some leeway in how they handled the implementation of these guidelines.
Broadly speaking, Chinese couples were limited to one single child. They could apply for permission to have a second under certain circumstances, such as when the first was disabled, and eventually rural families were permitted a second child if their first was a girl. So-called ‘excess births’ were dealt with mainly with contraceptives which were available for all women. Failing that, a regime of fines, sterilization, intimidation, abortion, and infanticide comprised a sinister tool that China used to keep a tight control over its population.
These laws were enforced by family planning cadres in every region and every town. At half a million strong, they were one of the most extensive arms of state power and had significant power to enforce compliance and punish dissent relating to the One-Child policy.
#onechildpolicy #ccp #chinahistory #history
Sources:
Yong Cai and Wang Feng, ‘The Social and Sociological Consequences of China's One-Child Policy’, Annual Review of Sociology, 47(1), (2021)
John S. Aird, Slaughter of the Innocents : Coercive Birth Control in China, (1990)
The Laogai Research Foundation, Better 10 Graves Than One Extra Birth: China's Systemic Use of Coercion To Meet Population Quotas, (2004)
Mei Fong, One Child: The Past and Future of China's Most Radical Experiment, (2015)
Raymond Li, ‘Forced Abortion Casts Shadow over Human Rights Plans’, South China Morning Post, 17th June 2012, www.scmp.com/article/1004254/forced-abortion-casts…
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All Comments (21)
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I am one of those Chinese girls that was thrown away. I was abandoned in a market and sent to an orphanage. I was then adopted by some lovely Americans looking for a child, I'm part of the lucky ones that got to get an actual family.
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And now they are complaining why their people aren't making more children despite their efforts
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there are probably just as many little girl skulls in the Yangtze as there are fish
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My friend was a one china police kid but she was left on in a basket at a fire station so they could try for a boy and she ended up being adopted in the US. I’m so glad she’s around cause she’s an amazing person. I’m blessed to have met her but this was not a good policy in history at all.
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So strange a society committing a kind of genocide against itself.
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Treating human beings as if they were nothing but livestock. A crime against humanity.
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The most raw line or sentence I've maybe ever heard in my entire life was from a tiktok or YouTube short where this Chinese woman was talking about the gigantic gender gap and she's like, "your wives are in the ground." I think about that a lot whenever a video like this comes up. I feel bad for every wanted baby who didn't get here, but I especially hope Chinese women are succeeding and doing well in their lives.
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The more power a government has over the individual, the worse they get.
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As a Chinese, I have to admit that this video is very accurate. I wanna share something: - CCP regards us as farm animals, so it's reasonable that CCP owns our genitals; - Just after the PRC was founded, we encouraged women to have as many children as possible (you get rewarded for that) due to the casualties during the WWII and the internal war; in late Mao's time, his majesty "realised" that we were having too many people and not enough jobs, so we had a slogan "one baby is too few; two babies are perfect; three babies are a little bit too many"; one thing led to another, this became a one-child policy but nobody actually takes responsibility for this. It's a mystery, and no one talks about that. - My cousin was killed some years ago and my uncle and aunt have to depend on me for everything. CCP promised to take care of couples if they had a girl, but we all know it's a lie. - Male heirs are important to parents because the girls will marry to other families and become one of them. Women are only requested to take care of their parents-in-law. You might think this is weird but it's part of the foundation of our society, starting from around 1000 B.C., and it's hard to change after more than 3000 years. Actually it's more than that. The males will carry the family name and host some kind of sacrifice ritual for the spirits of their ancestors. This is the most important thing even though Mao banned it. Today, young people do not care about the ritual that much so they don't want kids as well.
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My girlfriend was born in China under the One Child Policy. She was given up to an adoption agency, where her parents would adopt her and bring her to the USA. I am so grateful that she was saved from what could have been a very short life. She and her parents are amazing people, and I'm so happy to have her in my life.
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You skipped over all the women who have been kidnapped and forced into marrying all those One Child males.
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Oh, the irony of the long term effects of the one child policy, and how it has played a pretty heavy role in China’s increasingly aging population and their population decline that’s on the horizon.
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My sister was a victim of this. It "tEcHnIcAlLy" isn't done anymore, but... All I can really say is that I'm grateful that she was actually put in front of a police station instead of what tended to happen. Because then we adopted her, and the rest is history.
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17:10 "We were just following orders" the most basic excuse for evil there is.... if there's a hell, every person involved is going there
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And now thay are facing a population crash
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As the mother of twins this horrifies me.
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And now the effects of such policy are hitting them hard
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Most terrifying words: "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help."
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I spend an irrational amount of time thinking about how growing up in a generation with only children would affect peoples psychology and personalities
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My daughter was abandoned in a bike shop. Thank God she was saved and we were blessed to adopt her. She is amazing.
