A short article today about baby trafficking in China (BBC).
not sure how convinced I am of how “strict” the one-child policy is now. I heard you simply have to pay a fine for each additional child. (not that it makes it better, now those who can afford it can have multiple children. but what can you do?)
Population and Family Planning Law of the People’s Republic of China (2001):
Article 18. The State maintains its current policity for reproduction, encouraging late marriage and childbearing and advocating one child per couple. Where the requirements specified by laws and regulations are met, plans for a second child, if requested, may be made. […]
Article 21. Couples of reproductive age who practise family planning shall receive, free of charge, the basic items of technical services specified by the State. […]
Article 22. Discrimination against and maltreatment of women who give birth to baby girls or who suffer from infertility are prohibited. Discrimination against, maltreatment, and abandonment of baby girls are prohibited.
Article 27. The State shall issue to a couple who volunteer to have only one child in their lifetime a “Certificate of Honor for Single-Child Parents”. […]
Article 28. […] Poverty-stricken households that practise family planning shall be given priority in terms of poverty-alleviation loans, relief through work and other poverty-alleviation projects, and social assistance.
Article 41. [oh here it is] Citizens who give birth to babies not in compliance with the provisions of Article 18 of this Law shall pay a social maintenance fee prescribed by law. […]