中国政府警告,"粗暴"执行一胎化政策可能损害国家形象,此前地方官员迫使一名怀孕七个月的妇女接受引产,引发全国公愤。
本月上旬,陕西省23岁的冯建梅从家里被强行带走并实施终止妊娠手术,因为她已经生育了一个孩子,并拒绝交纳生育第二胎的强制性罚款。
中国的计划生育委员会周三在坚持计划生育政策目标的同时,告诫官员们在执行这项实施30年的政策时要更加谨慎细心。
"人口计生工作关系到群众的切身利益,工作中稍有不慎,就会引发不良影响,损害党和国家形象。……(我们必须)从源头上预防粗暴执法、行政侵权问题的发生,"中国国家人口和计划生育委员会在一份声明中表示。
这一警告并未明确提及冯建梅的遭遇,但它涉及中国正在展开的辩论,其焦点是一对夫妇只能生育一个孩子的规定。
冯建梅的丈夫把她躺在医院病床上、身边是血淋淋的死胎的照片上传互联网,使冯得到全国关注。
就在这件事发生之前不久,反对强迫堕胎的中国法律维权人士、失明的陈光诚逃离了事实上的软禁。
共产党长期坚称,一胎化政策是为了控制人口增长。但这起最新的争议在报纸和博客上引发热议,议题是应不应该放松或取消这项政策。
中国人口问题专家何亚福表示,这件事可能标志着一个转折点。
"这则新闻已经引发公众愤怒,是对中国计生政策的沉重打击,"何亚福表示。"以前,不少人接受计划生育有利于国家的说法,但现在许多人不那么肯定了。"
何亚福补充说,冯建梅这样的遭遇以往是不准报道的。"今年媒体能够报道这件事是不寻常的。我认为这是一个迹象,表明中央政府正在改变态度,"他表示。
但何亚福表示,政府不太可能很快采取行动,废除一胎化政策,因为它担心人口突然激增,超出其改善人民生活质量的能力。
他表示,政府将采取渐进做法。本身都是独生子女的父母,已经被允许生育第二胎。他补充称,下一步将是允许所有夫妇生第二胎。
一胎化政策是在上世纪70年代末出台的,当时北京方面担心中国人口增长过快。尽管这项政策成功放缓了人口增长,但专家们警告称,它也给国家带来潜在危险的人口结构。
中国已出现严重的性别失衡,因为喜欢生男孩的很多家庭(尤其是在农村)选择流产女婴。中国生育率的急剧下降,还带来了快速老龄化的人口结构,经济学家们称,这可能在未来几十年拖累增长。
中国官方媒体周二报道,冯建梅所在地方的两名官员,包括陕西省安康市镇坪县曾家镇的镇长,已被撤销职务。此前一项调查发现,要求冯建梅及其家属交纳罚款的做法是没有法律法规依据的。
即便在冯建梅惨遭引产的事引起全国关注之后,地方官员仍在恫吓她家。上周末,他们在她的家乡曾家镇组织了一场游行活动,村民们打出红色标语,谴责冯和她丈夫是"卖国贼"。
Shirley Chen补充报道
译者/何黎
http://www.ftchinese.com/story/001045246#s=d
The Chinese government has warned that "cruel" application of its one-child policy could harm its image after local officials forced a woman to abort her seven-month pregnancy, in a case that has sparked national outrage.
Earlier this month, Feng Jianmei, 23, was taken from her home in Shaanxi province and required to terminate her pregnancy because she already had a child and refused to pay the obligatory fine for having a second.
China's family planning commission on Wednesday told officials to be more careful in enforcing the three-decades-old one-child policy while standing by its objectives.
"Even the slightest misstep in this work can lead to negative effects, damaging the image of the [Communist] party and the nation . . . We must prevent the cruel enforcement of laws," the commission said in a statement.
The warning, which did not refer explicitly to Ms Feng, feeds into a debate in China about the rule that limits parents to only one child.
Ms Feng received national prominence after her husband posted photos on the internet of her lying in a hospital bed next to her bloody foetus.
The case came on the heels of the escape of Chen Guangcheng, the blind legal activist who had campaigned against forced abortions, from house arrest in China.
The Communist party has long insisted that the policy is about controlling population growth. But the latest controversy has sparked discussion in newspapers and blogs about whether it should be relaxed or scrapped.
He Yafu, a Chinese demographic expert, said the case could mark a turning point.
"This news has enraged the general public and is a big blow to China's family planning policy," said Mr He. "Previously, many people accepted that family planning benefits the nation, but now many aren't so sure."
Mr He added that reporting of incidents such as Ms Feng's had been banned in the past. "It's unusual that media has been able to report it this year. I think it's a sign that the central government is changing its attitudes," he said.
But Mr He said the government was unlikely to move quickly to rescind the one-child policy because it feared a sudden surge in population growth that could outstrip its capacity to improve people's quality of life.
Rather, he said the government would take an incremental approach. Parents who are both single children themselves are already permitted to have a second child. The next step would be to allow all couples to have a second child, he added.
The one-child policy was introduced in the late 1970s when Beijing was worried that the population was growing too quickly. While it has succeeded in slowing population growth, it has left the country with a demographic structure that experts warn could be dangerous.
A severe gender imbalance has arisen because many families, especially in the countryside, have chosen to abort female foetuses, preferring to have boys. The steep decline in China's birth rate has also created a rapidly ageing population that economists say could be a drag on growth in the coming decades.
Chinese state-run media on Tuesday said that two officials, including the head of Ms Feng's village, had been sacked after an investigation found she had been fined illegally.
Even after her plight had grabbed national attention, local officials had continued to intimidate her family. Over the weekend, they organised a march through her home town of Zengjia with villagers holding a red banner that denounced Ms Feng and her husband as "national traitors".
Additional reporting by Shirley Chen