March 9, 2010, Washington, DC‐ On March 11, 2010, the Laogai Research Foundation and the International
Development Studies Program of the Elliott School of International Affairs will be co‐hosting a conference on China’s controversial One Child Policy entitled, “An Unprecedented Social Experiment: The Far‐Reaching Effects of China’s One Child Policy.” Noted panelists include, Tencho Gyatso of the International Campaign for Tibet, Nicole Kempton of the Laogai Research Foundation, Reggie Littlejohn of Women’s Rights without Frontiers International, and Toy Reid of the Congressional Executive Commission on China. Panelists will be offering perspectives on how the One Child Policy has impacted China’s society and economy since it was first adopted over 30 years ago, and what the policy will mean for China’s future. The conference will also feature personal video testimony from a refugee of the One Child Policy, Zhou Xiaoping, who will speak about her personal experiences. Zhou’s daughter will also provide her thoughts how the policy has impacted her family.
 

Of the conference, Laogai Research Foundation Director Nicole Kempton offered, “With International Women’s Day this week and Secretary Clinton’s speech at the UN on the 15th Anniversary of the Beijing Conference, this is the optimal environment in which to debate a policy that represents an unprecedented intrusion into the personal choices of one fifth of the world’s women.” Secretary Clinton is scheduled to give remarks at the United Nations on Friday assessing the progress made since the 1995 Beijing Conference on Women. Since that conference, women’s rights around the world have improved across many areas, but China has continued to use coercive measures – such as exorbitant fines,forced abortions, forced sterilizations, and property destruction – to enforce the One Child Policy.

The conference will be broadcast live on the Laogai Research Foundation’s blog which can be found at
www.laogai.org/blog. Questions and comments will be taken from around the globe using Twitter. Follow the
conference feed at www.twitter.com/1childdebate. To participate in the discussion please use the hashtag
#onechildcon. If you have further questions about this event, would like to interview a panelist, or have questions about how you can participate on‐line, contact Lindsey Purdy at Lindsey@laogai.org or (202) 408‐8300.
 

The Laogai Research Foundation is a not‐for‐profit organization founded by former political prisoner Harry Wu in 1992.  Its mission is to gather information on and raise public awareness of the Laogai—China’s extensive system of forced labor prison camps.

 

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