Don't Mistake China's Three-Child Policy For Liberalization

Following decades of forced abortions and sterilizations carried out under Beijing's infamous one-child policy, and five years of a two-child policy, Chinese couples are now allowed to have three children. But this should not be confused with a move toward liberalization. The Chinese state will do whatever suits its goals, disregarding the dignity and basic human rights of its people. For now, the government wants more future workers, so childbearing is a priority.

Fearing a population boom, Chinese leaders introduced a strict one-child policy in the late 1970s. Due to official concern that a growing population would hinder economic progress, any woman found to be pregnant without permission could be dragged to a clinic for a forced abortion. Compulsory abortions and sterilizations and a skewed male-female ratio are the tragic side effects of the government's pursuit of economic success and power.

In 2016, a slowdown in population growth—coupled with an agingpopulation and fewer young workers to support them—became a new concern. So, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) transitioned the one-child policy into a two-child policy. Yet years of government propaganda promoting the patriotic duty of only having one child seems to have proven effective. When the one-child policy was lifted, couples were reluctant to have an additional child, and they remain so. China has not managed to sustain an increase in births.

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