China Worries About Shortage Of 'Wives' In Near Future

[Kadie]

China Worries About Shortage Of 'Wives' In Near Future

POSTED: 8:36 am EDT July 15, 2004

BEIJING -- China hopes to achieve a normal balance of newborn boys and girls within six years with its ban on abortions to select an infant's sex and by making welfare payments to couples without sons, a family planning official said Thursday.

Government figures show 117 boys are born in China for every 100 girls -- a gap blamed largely on a policy limiting most couples to one child. In a society that values sons, many parents abort baby girls, hoping to try again for a boy.

The gap has led to warnings that millions of men won't find wives in coming years, fueling social tensions and a black market in baby girls and abducted women.

"Illegal sex determination and sex-selective abortion must be strictly banned," said Zhao Baige, vice minister of the National Population and Family Planning Commission. "China has set the goal of lowering the sex ratio to a normal level by 2010."

snip...
"The criminal acts of trafficking, maltreatment and abandonment of female infants must be punished with severity," Zhao said.

more... http://www.thekcrachannel.com/family/3531786/detail.html

[geek tragedy]

1. They may want to address that female infanticide problem too

This is one of those occasions where cultural relativism needs to be shown the door. The Chinese really need to reform their culture on this issue.

[FlemingsGhost]

2. Ooooops ...

Maybe they can pass a same sex marriage law.

[Merlin]

3. China sex-selection ultrasound / abortion ban is a joke

Ignoring these "bans" for sex-selection is as commonplace as ignoring the speed limit here.

"China last year banned abortions to select a baby's sex and also bans using ultrasound examinations to learn the sex of a fetus. Zhao defended China's "one child" limit, and said other Asian societies have similar imbalances."

There's a train wreck ahead in China. This attitude is going to reap a whirlwind of social problems. It may result in females having inordinate power in the future -- a major league turnaround.

[iconoclastic cat]

4. It's so nice that they have been able to fix their HIV epidemic.

/sarcasm
or, in my case, /sargasm

[Warpy]

8. Why do you think there IS one?

They've always had a very sexually repressed society with little sexual experimentation before arranged marriages. With so many more males than females being born over the last 25 years, they're just seeing the beginning of the problem with a surplus of young males with no marital prospects in sight.

My guess is that they're going to need some kind of a war, and soon.

[iconoclastic cat]

9. Actually, their problems are that their blood banks are not screened,

heroin is booming, and they are (often) persecuted for even mentioning it, despite the official line. I doubt a lack of females is a factor.

[GinaMaria]

16. My thoughts exactly!

There likely won't be a balance of power between men and women in their future. Those with power and money will start a war and eliminate the 'surplus' young males. Old powerful men don't want the competition for the young females and they rarely fight in wars.

[neuvocat]

5. What about that population problem of theirs?

It sure doesn't sound like they totally thought it through.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

6. In a few years, if outsourcing keeps its current pace...

there'll be a vast supply of American mail-order brides.

[iconoclastic cat]

10. I love your anteater!

Are they endagered? What isn't, I suppose...

[GoddessOfGuinness]

15. I believe their current status is "threatened"

Habitat loss and hunting, etc.

You might enjoy this website: http://www.maiaw.com/anteater/

[daleo]

14. That is exactly what I was thinking.

n/t

[NickB79]

20. I nominate the Bush twins

Followed up by the Hilton sisters. I can't stand those women.

[slappypan]

7. Yet the still seem eager to have female babies adopted overseas.

There are still many Americans adopting Chinese baby girls.

[iconoclastic cat]

11. That's because female babies are a burden to poor families.

More often than not, they are simply killed.

[happynewyear]

12. I've always found this disgusting

and I have also always found in to be criminal. Why even bother to reproduce if you want only a specific sex? This decries the whole meaning of life and death.

I am not against abortion, but when it becomes a way to select what sex of a baby you will have, I think these types of persons shouldn't be allowed to have even one.

Why is a boy so much more precious than a girl exactly?

This will hopefully become a real agenda issue for Chinese women. They have been treated horribly for centuries. If they used to bind their feet, why not try some other part.

The Chinese government needs to make a quick overhaul of their policies and attitudes towards their women, if indeed they value them. :(

[Freddie Stubbs]

17. But isn't it the woman's choice?

It is amusing that some are in favor abortion as long as the abortion is not for politically incorrect reasons.

[LeighAnn]

13. Too bad they drowned all those baby girls

Because everyone wanted their one child to be a boy. Too bad that not enough people take into consideration how their actions will affect future generations (like republicans)

[Bluebear]

18. You swept the words out of my mouth nt

[shanti]

19. they haven't all been drowned

many of them get adopted in the u.s.