One Child Policy Guangxi

This article is from 2007, but that is when Lil M's adoption was final. Very, very disturbing. :(

New Violence Hits Southern China Over Family Planning Policy
By VOA News 30 May 2007

Enforcement of China's strict family planning policy has sparked more riots in the southern Guangxi region.

The state-run Xinhua news agency says protests erupted again Tuesday, the second outbreak in the region this month.

More than 100 police were called into the town of Yangmei after residents ransacked the local government headquarters, surrounded the population control office and burned police cars. Violence was also reported in the town of Lingshan where residents protested outside the local government office.

Unrest first erupted two weeks ago in rural parts of Guangxi over what residents say are the brutal methods used by local officials to enforce the "one child" policy.

Residents say the authorities have forced abortions, confiscated property, and imposed heavy fines on families having more children than the policy allows.

Under China's one-child policy, started in the late 1970s, most families are allowed only one child. Families in rural areas are allowed two, especially if the first child is a girl. Abortions have risen due to the policy.

China has the world's highest population at 1.3 billion people.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

You can find the article here and here.

Peace.

Ethnic Minorities in China

Here's another article about minority groups in China. It is noted that there are 55 minority groups in China. My daughter does not appear to be Han, which is the majority group in China. Therefore, I've been doing a bit of research on the minority groups.

The term Ethnic Minorities is theirs, not mine.

China Daily

The total population of Guangxi has grown rapidly over the past decades, increasing from 18.45 million in 1949 to 44.89 million in 2000. From 1982 to 1990, a total of 5.824 million people were added to its total population, producing an average annual growth rate of 1.87%. From 1990 to 2000, growth in persons were 2.64 million, the growth rate was 6.26% and the annual growth rate was 0.59%. In addition, with ethnic populations accounting 38.34% of its total, Guangxi is one of the four provinces (autonomous regions) in China with an ethnic population of more than 10 million, and the autonomous region with the largest ethnic population.

Most of Guangxi's population resides in the southern and southeastern parts of the region; the northern and southwestern parts are sparsely populated. Great differences exist in population distribution and density between urban and rural areas. Ethnic minorities are concentrated in the west and northwestern hilly areas, while most Han people live in the northeastern and southeastern plain areas. In 2000, the population density was 190 persons/sq.km.

This was quoted from another article here, and here is another good one.

Peace.

Rice harvest Guangxi

This post is more for myself and my little one... I found an article about Guangxi and thought I should keep it.

Updated: 2009-09-07 09:51

Farmers working in the rice fields in Pingle Yao ethnic Township of Fengshan county, southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, September 6, 2009. Middle-season rice is harvested in Fengshan. [Xinhua]

A farmer harvests paddy stalks in her rice field in Pingle Yao ethnic Township of Fengshan county, southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, September 6, 2009.[Xinhua]

Farmers carry sacks of rice along the rice field in Pingle Yao ethnic Township of Fengshan county, southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, September 6, 2009. [Xinhua]

Farmers harvest paddy stalks in the rice fields of Pingle Yao ethnic Township of Fengshan county, southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, September 6, 2009.[Xinhua]

Farmers work in rice fields in Pingle Yao ethnic Township of Fengshan county, southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, September 6, 2009.[Xinhua]

here's a link to the article

Peace.

Guangxi

Interesting facts about Guangxi that I've found, so far:

Wikpedia says that Guangxi China became autonomous 50 years ago on Dec 11, 2008. So, 1958 they became an autonomous region.

Thinkquest says that: Self-government in ethnic group autonomous areas is affected through the local people's congress and people's government at the particular level. There are currently five autonomous regions in China. They are Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region founded on May 1, 1947, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region founded on October 25, 1958, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region founded on October 1, 1955, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region founded on March 5, 1958 and Tibet Autonomous Region founded on September 9, 1965. In addition, China also has 30 autonomous prefectures and 121 autonomous counties (or in some cases, banners). The committee of the People's Congress and the head of the government of an autonomous region, autonomous prefecture or autonomous county belong to the area's designated ethnic group.

Organs of self-government in regional autonomous areas enjoy extensive self-government rights beyond those held by other state organs at the same level. These include enacting regulations for self-government and specialized regulations corresponding to local political, economic and cultural conditions; making independent use of local revenue, and independently arranging and managing construction, education, science, culture, public health and other local undertakings. The Central Government has greatly assisted in the training of ethnic group cadres and technicians through the establishment of institutes and cadre schools for minority ethnic groups to supplement regular colleges and universities. It has, in addition, supplied the ethnic group autonomous areas with large quantities of financial aid and material resources in order to promote their economic and cultural development.

http://library.thinkquest.org/05aug/01780/chinese-ethnic-group/index.htm

Our guide in Guangxi said he thought Lil M was part of a "minority" group in China.

(this is also from the thinkquest site) - China is a large country noted for its dense population and vast territory. There are 55 minority ethnic groups in addition to the Han who represent 92% of the population. The defining elements of an ethnic group are language, homeland, and social values. 53 minority ethnic groups use spoken languages of their own; 23 minority ethnic groups have their own written languages.

Most of the 7 percent of the minority ethnic groups live in the vast areas of the West, Southwest (Mia is from Southwest China) and Northwest. The largest is the 12 million-strong Zhuang in southwestern China. Although minority ethnic groups account for about 7% of the population, they are distributed over some 50% of Chinese territory, mostly in the border regions. Equality, unity and common prosperity are the fundamental objectives of the government in handling the relations between minority ethnic groups. China exercises a policy of regional autonomy for various minority ethnic groups, allowing ethnic group peoples living in compact communities to establish self-government and direct their own affairs.

Peace