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China punishes clinics helping parents with sex selection |
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September 18, 2000
BEIJING (AP) - Authorities in southern China handed out fines and other punishment to 13 health workers who illegally helped parents learn the sex of their unborn children, a newspaper reported Sunday. The action against the employees of nine clinics in Hunan province's Xiangtan city accompanied a crackdown on ruling Communist Party members who violated strict family planning regulations, the Beijing Morning Post reported. It did not specify what their offense was. With most Chinese families restricted to just one child, there is strong pressure to meet the traditional demand for male heirs. Female fetuses are often aborted, contributing to a growing gender imbalance in China that sees 120 boys born for every 100 girls. Authorities confiscated profits from the illegal exams and the clinics were fined and given administrative punishments, the paper said. In the larger crackdown, 793 party members were punished for violating population guidelines, the paper said. Of those, 53 were expelled from the party, five were dismissed from their party posts, and eight were fired from their jobs. Violators also received fines and lesser punishments. China expects party members to set an example in adherence to its one-child policy, which is becoming increasingly difficult to enforce with the retreat of government control from all aspects of life following economic reforms. Beijing claims the policy, sometimes enforced with compulsory abortions, is crucial to containing the growth of its population, now 1.25 billion. Many rural families are allowed a second child to help with farmwork and Ethnic minorities that make up less than 5 percent of China's population are exempt from the one-child limit. |