Former Victims of 'One Child' Policy Hit Out at China's New Birth Drive

A former victim of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s draconian "one-child" curbs has hit out at the government over a 180-degree policy shift that now seeks to encourage Chinese citizens to have up to three children per married couple. Ling Baozhen, whose family was targeted by officials in his home province of Jiangsu, said his parents were issued with punitive fines under the one-child policy for an "excess birth" outside of allowed quotas.

"Family planning policies are a violation of basic human rights, as well as a gross violation of human dignity," Ling told RFA on Tuesday. "My parents went into hiding in Tibet to give birth to me, and they were fined 30,000 yuan and somebody took away all of our household belongings. Now we are seeing the negative consequences of those policies, with an aging society and a population imbalance, with not enough working-age people," Ling said.

Later, Ling's sister was forced into a late-term abortion by family planning officials, he said. "They forcibly aborted my sister's seven-month-old fetus ... Family planning policies are a crime against humanity," Ling said. Ling said he also fears that the new, three-child policy could lead to further injustice.

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