05/23/2007, 00.00
CHINA
Send to a friend

Government and police like Japanese invaders

Abortions and forced sterilisations, fines worth years of wages, homes ransacked for not paying them are but some of the atrocities inflicted by the authorities on the residents of Bobai County in the last two months of one-child policy enforcement. Among locals a silent pledge of unity and resistance to such violence prevails.

Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) – For months the police and the government have implemented the one-child policy by forcing women in Bobai County (Yulin Prefecture, Guangxi) to have abortions or sterilisations if they had more than one child, or imposing fines worth years of wages, taking away everything from or destroying the homes of those who could not pay. Now police is patrolling the streets with residents looking on as if they were part of an invading and tyrannical army.

In a silent show of solidarity and resistance to more abuse hundreds of residents have visited the families in the village of Shabi and neighbouring villages whose houses have been ransacked by government officers

In a situation where official comments are still few and far in between, some say that there have been no arrests. The Xinhua news agency did none the less report 28 people detained after hundreds of protesters stormed government offices in what was the worst local unrest in years.

Yet some people are now daring to talk about what happened.

“They are just like the Japanese army,” one man told Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post, in a direct reference to the worst atrocities inflicted upon the Chinese in living memory.

“They come in and take away everything we have. They take away pregnant women and force them to have abortions. They impose ridiculous fines on us. We are fighting for survival.” He added.

“Some unmarried women have even been fined and forced to have surgery [to prevent them having children],” another man said.

Fines for an extra child can range from 20 to 30,000 yuan in an area where the average monthly salary is around 500-600 yuan and some families have four or five children. The net result has been police robbing those who could not pay.

The official Guangxi Daily reported in March that in Bobai 5,896 officials were mobilised to impose family planning controls.

“They knocked down our door one night last week and started to search for valuables,” one woman said. “It was as if we were robbed. They took away everything useful—even my kitchen utensils. They then pulled out our windows. We lost our home overnight.”

The family said that since then they had to sleep under a staircase because even their bed was confiscated.

There are many similar cases in Bobai. Stories like this one are legion.

“The most important thing for a family is a secure place to live and food to eat. If you take these things away, everyone will revolt against you,” a neighbour said.

Even though the one-child policy has been in place on the mainland for three decades, it doesn't apply uniformly. But even where it does apply, its enforcement in many rural areas has been lax. And more recently, wealthier couples have been able to just pay fines to have more children.

TAGs
Send to a friend
Printable version
CLOSE X
See also
Revolts in Guangxi against forced sterilisation
22/05/2007
Prison for protesters of one child policy and forced abortions
05/06/2007
In Guangxi anyone opposing forced abortions to be punished
24/05/2007
White House to stop Beijing's "imperialist" policy in the South China Sea
24/01/2017 15:55
The Chinese government admits: "Forced sterilisations and abortions took place"
20/09/2005


Newsletter

Subscribe to Asia News updates or change your preferences

Subscribe now
“L’Asia: ecco il nostro comune compito per il terzo millennio!” - Giovanni Paolo II, da “Alzatevi, andiamo”