Sunday, January 07, 2007

The rich in China can circumvent the rules

This is the problem with communism, you can never have true equality. There will always be the those in power and those who are not, the affluent and those who live in poverty. If you want more children, just pay the fine but of course the peasant can't afford it.

A popular Chinese singer’s decision to give birth to a second child in her forties has set off a public debate about whether the rich and famous can circumvent China’s one-child policy, writes Michael Sheridan.

Mao Amin, who has a two-year-old daughter, had a baby boy at a private hospital in Shanghai late last month. This happy news seems to have irritated some Communist party propaganda officials, who authorised commentaries in the state media pointing out that Mao did not appear to meet the official criteria for having two children.

[...]

Officially, city dwellers who are only children may have two offspring and country people can have a second child if the first is a girl.

Chinese media say Mao is not an only child, which suggests to most people that she is ready to pay a big fine to enjoy parenthood again.

According to Sohu.com, a popular website, a rich factory owner recently paid a fine of more than £3,000 to have a second child. Other dodges for the rich include registering as an “overseas Chinese” — born in places such as Malaysia — or going abroad to give birth.

For the poor, it is a different story. China has drawn international criticism for harsh methods used to enforce the ban on more than one child, including forced abortions and compulsory sterilisation.

Communism is a system that is flawed at its root, it goes against human nature for man to think of the common good. Man's nature is to take care of his own need first and put the needs of others second. Capitalism works because it takes into account that aspect of man's nature.