China Raises Fines on One-Child Policy

Beijing, China (LifeNews.com) -- Chinese officials have followed through on their earlier promise to raise the fines for couples who violate the one-child population control policy. Poorer residents who are subject to human rights abuses have long complained that rich Chinese couples can pay fines and avoid governmental harassment.

Now, the Chinese government has raised those fines to discourage more families from having a second child, which violates the one-child rule that has earned the Asian nation condemnation from around the world. Deng Xingzhou, director of Beijing’s family planning commission, said the new rules were aimed at correcting that wealth disparity.

Currently, couples must pay a fine that amounts to three to eight times their annual salary and that amount will increase although the government didn't appear to release official figures.The increased fines also come as the nation's capital, Beijing, has experienced a rise in its population due to the influx of migrant workers from the coast. The city has a population of 17 million, well over the 10-11 million who live in New York City, the largest American city.

Heavy fines have also been customary for poorer Chinese residents and Chinese population control officials will fine the Chinese people for violations to such a heavy price that they may not be able to afford it.

Some of the citizens of Bobai county in the southwestern portion of China protested in 2007 and said fines were instituted even on people who had already paid them.

Forced abortions were done on some of the women. Police eventually arrested 28 people in association with the riots, according to official Chinese media sources.

Similar high fine initiatives have been adopted in Henan and Zhejiang provinces where the incidence of female infanticides is at their highest because of the cultural preference for boys.

The policy has resulted in epidemics of forced abortions and sterilizations and human rights abuses ranging from job loss and imprisonment to house arrest and threatening family members.