UNITED STATES: Vice President slammed for comments seemingly condoning China's one-child policy

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Summary: In commenting that he "understands" and is "not second-guessing" China's one-child policy, US Vice President has beccme the subject of criticism.

[26 August 2011] - United States Vice President Joe Biden has been criticised for seemingly praising China's one-child policy - which has given rise to reports of coerced abortions and forced sterilisation - at a talk he gave this week at Sichuan University in China.

“Your policy has been one which I fully understand — I’m not second-guessing — of one child per family. The result being that you’re in a position where one wage earner will be taking care of four retired people. Not sustainable,” Biden said. 

John Boehner, House Speaker at the US House of Representatives, condemned the remarks, saying he was "deeply troubled by the comments reportedly made by the Vice President...regarding China’s reprehensible one-child policy, which has resulted in forced sterilisations and coerced abortions and should not be condoned by any American official. No government on Earth has the authority to place quotas on the value of innocent human life, or to treat life as an economic commodity that can be regulated and taken away on a whim by the state.”

Mitt Romney, candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination also gave a statement condeming Biden's remarks. “China’s one-child policy is gruesome and barbaric. Vice President Biden’s acquiescence to such a policy should shock the conscience of every American," he said, adding that "Instead of condoning the policy, Vice President Biden should have condemned it in the strongest possible terms. There can be no defence of a government that engages in compulsory sterilisation and forced abortions in the name of population control.”

Texas Governor Rick Perry also said in a statement: “Vice President Biden’s refusal to ‘second-guess’ this horrendous policy demonstrates great moral indifference on the part of the Obama administration.”

In response to the criticisms, the Vice President’s office released statements saying that Biden was attempting to bring to light the unintended reults of the country’s policy and not to condone it. Apparently, Biden was trying to explain that the drastically decreasing  rate of population growth will eventually lead to problems in the coming years when there will be less young people to take care of the older generation, and fewer people working will also mean less money supporting retirees. However, in commenting that he was “not second-guessing” the country’s policy, he became the subject of criticism.

Sources: The Washington Post and Localized USA.

 

Further Information:

pdf: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/post/romney-slams-biden-o...

Country: 
United States
Issues: 
Physical abuse
State violence
Violence: 
Physical abuse
State violence
Link : 

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