China should abandon family planning policy

Jul 17 2012

In this post on the Council of Foreign Relations' "Asia Unbound" blog, Yanzhong Huang, a senior fellow for global health at the council, argues that China should abandon its so-called "one-child policy," writing, "Despite the relaxation of the [law], China is increasingly suffering the consequences of a draconian policy that was put in place in the early 1980s." Noting several reasons why the country should drop the law, including that it has "become a constant source of friction in China's relations with the Western world" and is "undermining China's international competitiveness," Huang states, "Despite the huge social and international cost, it seems to be extremely difficult for the government to abandon the notorious policy" (7/12).