China Expects the World to Pay for Its Draconian Measures

Wednesday March 16, by Jerome F. Keating Ph.D.

While the Japanese tsunami is taking front and center news; everyone is also aware of the past earthquake in New Zealand and the tragic deaths there as well. The New Zealand government has an existing government accident insurance fund to compensate families of foreign nationals that were killed in what is sometimes termed "an act of God" or a natural disaster. What comes as a surprise and fits in the "Am-I-missing-something" category is the Chinese response to this.

Seven students from China are known to be among the 166 confirmed deaths. Thus Chinese Embassy official Cheng Lei made a strange request. He wanted New Zealand to pay extra compensation for the Chinese deaths because of China's draconian one-child policy back home.

Cheng went on that because of China's draconian policy these families have lost their only child, who would also be their only future bread winner.

One can certainly sympathize of those families and any family that would be forced to have only one child. That puts a sword of Damocles over their heads for any misfortunes that happen in life. But the question is Why should New Zealand be asked to pay for China's deadly policy? When a death of a child happens in China, does the government pay them an extra and/or extraordinary amount of compensation because of the loss of their only child?

Cheng played on sympathy when he broached the fact that New Zealand should consider how lonely, how desperate the parents would be....hey lost not only a loved one but the major source of economic assistance after retirement." Again, am I missing something? Did not China consider the consequences of such when they made and enforced these laws, even to the extent of having women sterilized, or forcing them to have abortions?

Again, did China give any such consideration for the many families that lost their only child at Tiananmen Square? Something does not compute. Is the world expected to pay for China's decisions? Should not the ones that forced these families to have only one child bear the responsibility for their forced actions?