China's stolen children...?

Question

Was anyone watching dispatches last night on channel 4. That was a harrowing documentary, had me in tears. They were talking about selling children like they were freaking animals or something....!! Once it was over, I had to go up to my daughters room and just look at her for a few minutes...the thoughts that people out there were selling their own children or kidnapping others makes me sick to my stomach.

What did you think of the programme? Do you think the one child policy is right or wrong??

EDIT: I understand that abortion is somewhat similiar...but that cannot be the same thing as being pregnant for 9 months, giving birth and then a year or two later deciding to sell your child because you cannot afford the fine for having a 2nd child!!

There was a young couple on the show, the girl was 19 and the boy 21. The girl was pregnant but they were in hiding because they didnt have a birth permit. They couldnt get a birth permit because they were too young to get married, the state wont allow women to marry until they are 20 and men 22. This young couple were forced to sell their daughter because they could not pay the fine for having a child without a birth permit. Its alrite for wealthy people because they can afford to keep paying fines for how many children they want, its the poor that cannot afford it so that makes the one child policy seem a little pointless..you can still have as many children as you like so long as you can pay for them.

EDIT: Hopper13 - I could see that the mother didnt want to sell her child but the boyfriend seemed a bit more concerned about the price he got. But it was that trafficker who sold his own child that I thought was treating them like animals, it was all about money to him.

Answer 1

its a shocking situation that China is in but unfortunatly the one child rule had to be brought in to stop the population exploding, I think what is really sad about it is that the richer the person the more children they are allowed, this doesnt seem fair.
I dont know if ive read your post wrong, if i have i apologise, but i dotn think you can be angry at the young couple who sold their daughter, the mother particualry was in serious heartache doing it.
I think its a terrible situation that there is one rule for the poor and one for the rich, apparantly the one child law will stop in 2010.
the worst thing about it is that about 15 years ago baby girls were beign left on the sides of motorways as no one wanted a girl they only wanted a boy to carry on the family name, and now baby girls are being snatched to provide a husband for their son as bying a wife costs so much!
At least this show will maybe open a discussion about this topic that can maybe do some good!

oh i totally agree the trafficker selling his child was horrific, especially when he was saying he didnt sell the older as he wouldn't of got muc money. felt so sorry for the remaining son, what kind of up bringing is that!

Answer 2

I did not watch the show but when I was back in college I remember doing a paper on just this very subject. I always felt deep down in side that China's policies in this regard were just inhumane. How can you dictate to an individual or individuals as to what they can do with their body and with what comes out of their body. Also those poor, innocent female children are nothing more than commodities and more times than none are treated like garbage, mostly aborted, sold, etc., the male children survival rate is a lot higher. How can China's government live with themselves. But if you are brought up in a society that condones this then you will condone it as well. While the subject was China at least they aren't as bad as Brazil where unwanted, abandoned children live on the streets and are executed by law enforcement. Children are this worlds future, but if you aren't allowed to live how can you have a future. What future does China have other than too many males and not enough females as well as their people fleeing to other countries just to live. I don't blame you for embracing your daughter, I embrace my still and they are all grown, I cry regularly when viewing, reading or listening to things of this sort. A childhood is the most magical time in an individuals life, if you don't have that what does that make you. Another one of the reasons I pray so much, the state of the world needs it. God Bless.

Answer 3

Chinese authorities perform these tasks largely using U.S. hardware and software. For example, Cisco Systems Inc. routers, machines that move Internet traffic around, are capable of recognizing individual portions of data, a technology that helps battle worms and viruses. That same technology can be used to distinguish certain content. Companies such as Cisco and Google Inc. have been accused of aiding China's censorship by tailoring their products to suit the government's needs. The study did not confirm those allegations, which the companies have denied ESTOFF has on occasion heard Chinese scientists and science policy experts see the problems of Chinese science as being inextricably bound up China's economic and political system. Recently a Chinese scholar remarked to ESTOFF that the lack of intellectual freedom and the extraordinary waste of resources severely handicap Chinese science. Both problems are rooted in the Communist Party's monopoly on power and in the socialist system. The Communist Party alternates between tightening and loosening constraints on society depending upon how secure the Party feels. The scholar said that the latest example of the Party's limitations on intellectual freedom is the firing of four Chinese Academy of Social Sciences researchers. Nobody believes in Marxism, said the scholar, it is just a slogan. Resources are wasted or used very inefficiently much more often in China than in the United States, said the scholar, because under socialism nobody plays the role of the owner who would see that resources are used efficiently. Local protectionism and the struggle between the center and localities are another source of great waste, the scholar said. For example, said the scholar, China has 186 different automobile companies -- many more than in other countries.

Answer 4

i caught the end of this last night - when the woman was selling her one year old and wanted 10,000 or 20,000 and was given i think 9,000. i unfortunatley missed most of the programme, but i dont think i would have stayed watching it for long anyway as that angered me how she could just sell it willy nilly!

i think the one child policy is a good idea though as china is so overpopulated as is the rest of the world. no wonder we have poverty and other things! if we brought the one child policy into where i live, half the teenagers wouldnt be having children as young as they do, because they wouldnt be getting the money off of us workers to pay for their brats and their "sit on my ar se all day and do nothing" attitude!

i realise i have swayed from the question a bit but i feel strong about both issues here!

Answer 5

The one child policy was probably suitable for a time when China's population growth was overtaking it's ability to produce enough food. Failure to curb the population would have meant famine and countless deaths such as occurred during the eralier periods of China's history. But with economic growth now almost in double figures, the policy may not be necessary because many middle-class families are likely to want fewer children because they want to live comfortably, as has happened in the west.

As for the desperate measures people are taking in China, we have to remember that in the UK we are aborting many births every day - 'like they were freaking animals or something', and incinerating them.

Answer 6

I've heard about this Ems & reading your post made me shudder too. I don't think the 1 child policy is right for the simple reason i believe in the parents right to choose.

I wonder what would lead people to such actions...
It could be poverty, illiteracy & or sheer fear of the government. i find it hard to believe that parents would choose willingly to sell their own. Heres hoping things improve soon...

Edit: Zanahoria is right, you know. Abortions are not very different...

Answer 7

I missed the programme, but one child policy is very difficult, they simply can't sustain more than one child per family, it would result in the starving & suffering of the entire population more than one billion people.

Answer 8

i watched it and was also in tears. the way they treat children and women is appalling. people in this day and age shouldnt have to live like that! its disgusting! those traffickers should be caught and punished, along with the parents who think it is ok to sell their baby! they have no heart. i can see thatsome of them have reasons, i.e they cannot afford to pay fines, but if YOU were in that situation would you not do everything in your power to raise the money???

Answer 9

x. what upset me more was when the little boy was explaining how his dad had sold his brother, and how he missed him even when they argued, that was so sad for a 11 year old to take on board, so so sad. x

Answer 10

I missed it but they have to do something to control the population, or there would be millions of starving children and that would be even worse.