A scandal involving family planning officials trafficking in newborns has just come to light in Hunan province. more ›

New rumors have surfaced that China could be changing its infamous one-child policy. According to an independent demographer, He Yafu, the government will start allowing 2 children per couple in five of its provinces next year but skimpy sources makes this sound like another Chinese parent's pipe dream. more ›

Reports released this week by No. 411 Hospital of People's Liberation Army's hotline suggest that over 35 surgical abortions have been performed in Shanghai since February this year. The cause is said to be linked to poor levels of sex education amongst minors in the city. more ›

The population of the [Yicheng] county has grown over the 25-year period of the scheme by 20.7 per cent, which is nearly five percentage points lower than the national average, despite families being allowed two children. The experiment also appears to have redressed the imbalance between male and female births in China: the national average is 118 males to every 100 females, but in Yicheng the ratio was in line with the natural norm at 106 to 100.

"In this province we have 30 million migrants living apart from their wives or husbands whose hunger for sex has never been recognized by society or the government... more ›

This latest ad has managed to shake ever our most jaded "This is China" hearts. A hospital in Chongqing is offering half price abortions if you show your student ID. more ›

So the private sex education for kids initiative didn't work out so hot, but that hasn't stopped Shanghai officials from promoting sex-ed to a slightly older set. Social workers will visit various venues, like vocational schools and community centers, in five districts around Shanghai to teach safe sex in a pilot program aimed at the 16 to 25 year old set. While the program encourages abstinence, officials in charge say they do not judge - there are lessons on contraceptive use and how to prevent AIDS. They also help unwed pregnant women tell parents about their pregnancies, as well as providing free condom and free abortion info as needed. Now this is something we can applaud. Source: Shanghai Daily more ›

13 million abortions are performed in China each year, according to China Daily, which basically means that every 365 days, China aborts the equivalent of the entire state of Pennsylvania's population. more ›

• Bruce Lee's siblings authorize Chinese biopics [AP] "Bruce Lee's older sister and younger brother have authorized a Chinese company to make a series of biographical films about the late kung fu icon, saying they want to produce a historically accurate account of their brother's life. Phoebe Lee and Robert Lee appeared at a signing ceremony with J.A. Media in Beijing on Monday, 36 years to the day after Bruce Lee died in Hong Kong at age 32 from swelling of the brain."
• Chinese News Sites Go Down After Reports on Gov't Scandal [IDG News Service] "Two of China's most popular technology news Web sites went offline Tuesday after carrying news reports that linked the son of China's president to a corrupt African deal. The technology news sections disappeared for several hours from major Chinese portals Sina.com.cn and NetEase.com early Tuesday afternoon, when they started redirecting viewers to general news pages. Both tech sections had carried reports on a state-owned company accused of bribing Namibian officials in the last day, but those reports were missing when the Web pages reappeared."
• A Verdict in China Faces Court of Public Opinion [WSJ] "A local court Monday meted out a three-year prison sentence for Hu Bin, the 20-year-old Hangzhou college student whose reckless driving and reported lack of remorse incited outrage on Chinese Internet portals back in early May. Prosecutors elected to charge Mr. Hu with vehicular manslaughter... rather than “endangering public security,” a much more serious crime punishable by death. The three-year sentence was met by general cynicism (in Chinese) on one of China’s main Internet portals, with many anonymous postings claiming that justice had been bought rather than served."

• China state TV host denies spying for Taiwan [AFP] "A star presenter with China's state television network has denied allegations that she spied for Taiwan, amid reports that she could be under investigation, state newspapers have said. The China Daily, quoting unnamed sources from China Central Television on Friday, said Fang Jing, the 38-year-old face of the network's prime-time military programme 'Defence Watch,' had been 'taken away for a possible spy probe'."
• China's family planning policy shadowed by violations from rich [kazinform] "The rich and famous who break the rules have cast a huge shadow over the policy, denting social equality and even stability. Many mainland women gave birth in the Hong Kong special administrative region to skirt the restrictions, experts say."
• U.S. Births Hint at Bias for Boys in Some Asians [New York Times] "Demographers say the statistical deviation among Asian-American families is significant, and they believe it reflects not only a preference for male children, but a growing tendency for these families to embrace sex-selection techniques, like in vitro fertilization and sperm sorting, or abortion."