Forced to Reproduce: Who Will Pay for the CCP’s Lies and Consequences of Family Planning

On November 21, 2023, Beijing Children's Hospital was overcrowded. (Video screenshot)

People News — The population in mainland China continues to decline. According to informed insiders within the system, since the 2003 SARS outbreak and continuing through the recent COVID pandemic and various other natural and man-made disasters, the population in mainland China has now fallen to just over 900 million, close to pre-family-planning levels. In early 2023, the CCP reported that the population decreased by 850,000 in 2022 and announced in January that by the end of 2023, there would be another year-on-year decrease of 2.08 million. Many citizens and informed voices in China believe the CCP is greatly underreporting these numbers.

An article titled Confirmation, published on Minghui.org on January 15 of last year, quoted a statement from Master Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong, saying that over 400 million people have died in China during the three-plus years of the pandemic, with the death toll expected to reach 500 million by the end of this wave.

However, the CCP can never reveal the real numbers for fear it would prompt people worldwide to think about the extent of disasters in China and the CCP’s illegitimate rule. This is why, throughout last year and this year, the CCP adamantly claimed China’s population is still over 1.4 billion. This year, the National Bureau of Statistics and its director, Kang Yi, stated at a State Council press conference that the population at the end of last year was 1.40967 billion. Reportedly, the CCP plans another national census, but regardless of the actual count, the predetermined figure will be reported as over 1.4 billion. This is to project an image of prosperity under CCP rule and to lure the world into believing in its massive market for investment opportunities.

Yet people find it odd: if the population is really over 1.4 billion and both urban and rural areas are densely populated, why is the CCP reverting to pre-family-planning propaganda, glorifying multiple births and even resorting to coercive measures? Now, policies are being rolled out to encourage births, such as child subsidies, maternity insurance, tax breaks, extended childcare leave, childcare services, housing priority, and even penalties for failing to have multiple children, including loss of bonuses, demotion, and dismissal from public positions. In some regions, women in their fifties are even being forced to attend family-planning training and collect related materials—utterly absurd.

But no matter how much the CCP agitates, data shows that birth intentions continue to decline annually in mainland China. In 2019, the birth rate was over 10‰; in 2021, it was 7.52‰; it dropped further to 6.77‰ in 2022, and the 2023 birth rate was 6.39‰, still trending downward. The CCP had to admit last year’s growth rate was -1.48‰, though, in CCP statistical “science,” even a negative growth rate must be called a growth rate.

The reality of ghost towns and villages across urban and rural areas indeed slaps the CCP’s “1.4 billion” claim in the face. During the holidays, in remote and left-behind villages, one can barely see a soul. In cities, entire residential complexes remain dark at night with no one living in them, creating ghost towns. Even Xiong’an New City, touted as a personal project of Xi, is becoming an unfinished project. Without people, there are no urban or rural areas—no labor force to be exploited.

So, on October 28, the State Council issued a series of measures to encourage births, with a group of high-level advisors proposing the CCP increase propaganda and education on having more children and increase local investment and service system building…

These “coercive birth policies” immediately drew ridicule from netizens: “Local governments rely on central support for revenue ideas, fining residents to raise funds every day; they haven’t yet imposed a birth tax, which is already a kindness—who would want to invest more?” “A headache gets treated only as a headache; shutting down after-school institutions even further restricts the domestic economy.” “Why isn’t real estate shut down or prices lowered? It would affect political achievements and stability—just another performance of hind-sight thinking.”

Let’s listen to the voices of young people in China: “I don’t want to have children, and I don’t dare to because I see no future. The economic pressure and natural disasters from the pandemic cannot be resolved by this society.” “The gender imbalance from family planning is hitting our generation. 40 million ‘leftover men’ can’t find wives—who would they have children with?” “The main issue is systemic. Under a dictatorial, oppressive regime, there are no human rights. I don’t want to bring an innocent life into this country to suffer.”