Adviser says villagers aborting girls
Print Edition
CHINA’S gender imbalance issue is back in the spotlight after pregnant villagers in east China were said to be illegally determining the sex of their unborn children.
Lian Fang, a political adviser in Shandong Province, said doctors in rural areas of the province have been hiding B ultrasound machines in villagers’ houses.
The equipment is used to ascertain gender, and unborn boys are usually kept while unborn girls are typically aborted, Lian said at Shandong’s annual meetings of its legislature and political advisory body.
Preference for boys is not uncommon in China, particularly in the countryside.
Many couples choose boys over girls in the belief that males could better support their families as well as carry on the family line and inherit property.
In Shandong, the sex ratio among newborns in 2013 was 116.6 boys to 100 girls. This made 2013 the fourth consecutive year in which the ratio had narrowed, but it is still “relatively high,” Lian said.
Guo Shuqing, the provincial governor, said earlier this week that the male to female proportion exceeded 120 to 100 in some areas.
Local authorities are taking action, with an official plan to ease the quandary already included in Shandong’s 2015 government work report.
The situation, however, only forms part of a bigger national problem.
Figures from the National Bureau of Statistics show that, at the end of 2014, the Chinese mainland had 33.76 million more males than females, with the sex ratio standing at 115.88 to 100. Though that was a six-year decrease, it still stands high above the international standard, making China one of the world’s most imbalanced countries in terms of gender.
The imbalance has led to issues including marriage difficulties and human trafficking. There is also the problem of age differences among spouses, which increases the rate of infertility and defects among newborns, Lian, who is also a gynecologist, said.
“I have treated many infertile girls who went through multiple abortions just to get a boy,” she said.
Gao Liping, a demography expert with the Shandong Academy of Social Sciences, said: “B ultrasound and DNA detection these days has provided the possibility of determining fetal sex, which directly contributes to China’s sex imbalance.”
Agencies that help with fetal gender determination overseas have also exacerbated the problem.
In a statement last week, the National Health and Family Planning Commission highlighted agencies collecting pregnant women’s blood and sending it overseas to determine gender of the baby.
Fetal gender determination is banned in China, except in cases of “medical necessity,” but abortion is allowed.
The commission said it would crack down on online advertisements for overseas fetal sex determination and ban search engines from linking to websites containing such ads.
The commission also warned medical staff, reiterating a ban on carrying, mailing or transporting blood samples abroad.
Lu Jiehua, a sociology professor with Peking University, called for tougher legal measures.
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