Ending an Era of Population Control in China: Was the One‐Child Policy Ever Needed?

• Author: Zhihe Wang,Ming Yang,Jiang Chang,Jiaming Zhang
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/ajes.12160
• Published date: 01 September 2016
• Date: 01 September 2016

Ending an Era of Population Control in

China: Was the One-Child Policy

Ever Needed?

By ZHIHE WANG*, MING YANG†, JIAMING ZHANG‡,

and JIANG CHANG§

ABSTRACT. The one-child policy of China, which was initiated in 1980

and was reversed in 2015, has been conceived of as a decision made

independently and arbitrarily or a product of impulsive decision

making. Therefore, it has received a great deal of criticism from

Western democracies. Of course, China faced internal problems related

to population, such as the Great Famine of 1958–1961. This might be

deemed the direct cause of the one-child policy. However, the more

powerful factors were indirect and of foreign origin. China’s one-child

policy was deeply influenced by the West, especially by Western

population science. Since the May 4

th

Movement in 1919, China has

had a tendency to worship science because of the Chinese obsession

with Western-style modernization. In other words, China’s one-child

policy is a product of blind imitation of Western population science.

The action has resulted in serious negative consequences such as an

imbalance of the sex ratio, elder-care problems, human rights

violations, undermining of traditional values,and even endangering the

regime. Those problems caused China to reverse its one-child policy.

The authors believe that China should develop a postmodern

population policy with Chinese character, based on organic thinking,

which takes human feelings seriously and empowers people and

*Zhihe Wang is the Director of the Center for Constructive Postmodern Studies at

Harbin Institute of Technology, Director of the Institute for Postmodern Development

of China. He is the author of Process and Pluralism: Chinese Thought on the Harmony

of Diversity,co-authorofThe Second E nlightenment.

†Ming Yang (ym1631@163.com) is a professor and Dean of the Marxism School at

Guangdong Finance University, China.

‡Jiaming Zhang is a PhD. candidate at the Center for BRICS Studies, Fudan Univer-

sity, China.

§Jiang Chang is Dean of the School of Politics and Law at Jilin Normal University.

American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Vol. 75, No. 4 (September, 2016).

DOI: 10.1111/ajes.12160

V

C2016 American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Inc.

allows them to act as subjects or agents in decisions about their

families, including the size of their family andthe selection of gender.

Introduction

On October 29, 2015, the Chinese Communist Party announced that “China

will fully implement the policy of “one couple, two children” (CPC Central

Committee 2015). This means China officially reversed its 35-year-old one-

child policy. The word “fully” here meant that China had previously adjusted

its one-child policy and allowed some couples to have two children. After the

announcement, the policy was extended to everyone.

Initially, in 1980, the one-child policy applied to all couples, but

exceptions to that universal policy developed almost immediately. For

example, in 1982, couples in several categories—ethnic minorities,

rural, or returning from overseas— were allowed to have two children

if their first child was a girl or disabled. It was called the “one-and-a-

half ” (Yitaiban) policy. Starting in 2000, couples in which both parents

were only children could have two children. It was called the “double

single” (Shuangdu) policy. In 2013, couples in which even one of the

spouses was an only child were allowed to have two children. It was

called the “secondchild alone” (Dandu)policy.

The latest policy change will allow all couples to have two children,

which is called “the universal two-child policy” (Quanmian fangkai

ertai). The President of China provided an explanation of the new pol-

icy. According to Xi Jinping (2015):

This can enable us to achieve balanced development of the population

in China. It is an important move toward demographic balance in terms

of the long-term development of China. After serious examination of its

likely effects, the Ministry of Health and the Family Planning Committee

argue that this policy is feasible.

Ending the one-child policy was a response to a prolonged cry from

a large number of Chinese. Therefore, the new policy has received

applause from many quarters. It is regarded as “a good thing that

accords with the popular will and sentiments” (Peng 2015). Some schol-

ars told a reporter ofChina Youth Daily that China “should have imple-

mented the universal two-child policy much earlier” (Peng 2015). Some

The American Journal of Economics and Sociology930

more radical scholars even hope that China will completely eliminate

the population control policy and reverse course. They urge the Chi-

nese government to encourage fertility in order to “ensure the sustain-

able development of China’s population” (Li 2016).

Other critics oppose the complete removal of the population control

policy. Zhai Zhenwu (2015), President of the China Population Associa-

tion and Dean of the School of Sociology and Population Studies at

Renmin University, represents these voices: “Given China’s actual con-

dition, it is not yet time for China to remove its population control pol-

icy and to encourage people to give birth.” Dr. Ye Tan (2011), a noted

female financial commentator, wrote:

China’s birth control policy was at one time a belated fine for having too many

children. It was a responsible attitude toward the future of both the earth and

the country. It is too early to talk about completely lifting population control

policynow.Itisbettertobeconsideredafterthebalanceisrestored.

From these comments, we can see that the internal debate continues

about the correct policy to regulate the population of China. To under-

stand the debate, we should understand the motives that caused China

to begin its one-child policy in 1980 and to end it recently.

To begin, we must understand what caused China to implement the

one-child policy, which White (2006: xi) argues was conceived as “a

world-historic policy, one comparable to other grand state-initiated social

engineering projects of the twentieth century.” At the other end of this

era, we need to discover if there are other reasons for the policy reversal

besides the reasons President Xi Jiping mentioned, such as balancing the

demographic development of China and providing an adequate supply

of labor for the market. This article will explain the reasons for the origi-

nal policy and the reasons for its reversal. In the end, we will provide a

proposal about a new population policy based on organic thinking,

which we call “postmodern population policy with Chinese character.”

I. Demographic History of China and Early Thoughts on Fertility

Many people in the West have had a tendency in the past century or two to

project their anxieties about overpopulation onto China and India because of

their large size. It might come as surprise, then, that the demographic history

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