Welcome to Laogai Research Foundation's "An Unprecedented Social Experiment: The Far-Reaching Effects of China's One Child Policy" conference.

Please enjoy the recorded audio from the conference:

Barbara Miller's Opening Remarks:

Harry Wu's Remarks:

Megan Fluker's Panel Introduction:

Nicole Kempton, Laogai Research Foundation:

Tencho Gyatso, International Campaign for Tibet:

Toy Reid, Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC):

Reggie Littlejohn, Women's Rights Without Frontiers:

Panelist Q&A session:

Please watch the recorded webcast after the jump:

(Published March 12, 2010 in the Huffington Post) This Friday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will mark the fifteenth anniversary of her speech at the UN World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 . Then-First Lady Clinton's remarkable speech represented one of the loudest, clearest calls for all nations to uphold women's rights, and to recognize that "women's rights are human rights." There is much for Secretary Clinton to celebrate this Friday as she reflects upon the progress the world has made towards realizing the goals set at the conference in Beijing fifteen years ago. But the work that began in Beijing is far from finished. One striking example of the continued abuse of women's human rights has remained largely unchanged since 1995, despite the fact that it affects one-fifth of the world's women: China's One Child Policy. (Read more after the jump)

Today, LRF executive director Harry Wu testified to the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the United States House of Representatives on China's One-Child Policy.  His testimony is below: (PDF version linked to the image on the right)

I am honored to testify here on the coercive population control policy in the People's Republic of China. I appreciate the Commission’s ongoing attention to human rights in China.

In 1998, 2001 and 2004, I testified alongside other witnesses on this issue before the US Congress. Regrettably, the impact of these hearings was minimal, as the coercive population control policy remains essentially unchanged in China, and the violations of human rights associated with this policy are still prevalent throughout the country.

Introduction

Since 1978, the Chinese government has gradually adopted a radical, draconian set of population control measures intended to curb the negative effects of overpopulation in China, home to one-fifth of the world’s population. In 1978, the First Session of the Fifth National People’s Congress introduced the concept of family planning into China’s Constitution. (Read more)

A Chinese woman was granted immigrant status in Canada after "it was argued she'd face huge fines and stigmatization if deported to China," the London Free Press reported.  The woman, Hong Zhang, is a single mother who fled China while pregnant.

According to Hong's consultant, "deported single mothers face a fine of about $140,000 a child when they return to China with kids."

China's draconian set of family planning policies restrict most Chinese couples to having only one child and couples must apply for a birth permit before starting a pregnancy.  After a woman has had her permitted number of children (usually one), she is required to undergo IUD insertion or be sterilized. Unauthorized pregnancies must be terminated, and after an unauthorized birth, one spouse must be sterilized. 

Canada's decision to grant Hong immigrant status will surely save her from imminent punishment and sends a clear signal that China's one-child policy is a direct threat to human rights.  For more on China's one-child policy, please click here.

Since China’s One Child Policy was enacted in 1979, women all over China have been subjected to forced late-term abortions (some as late as nine months), forced IUD insertion, forced sterilization, police detention, and even the destruction of their homes.

Additionally, the Policy has created an unnatural gender imbalance – 32 million more men aged under 20 than women – which has lead to increased human trafficking of young boys and women, as well as a host of other problems.

But, as is true in many circumstances in China, money is buying the opportunity to have more children: