The Price of Life in China
How much is a life worth? In Ankang City, in central Shaanxi Province, the answer is 40,000 yuan, or about $6,300. That’s the amount Feng Jianmei did not have when population control officials demanded the amount as a fine for a second birth. As a result, no fewer than 20 officials went looking for the 22-year-old woman. When they found her, they forced her into a car. When she resisted, they beat her. Then, they detained her for three days.
On June 2nd, officials forced Feng to undergo an abortion. Afterwards, they laid the blood-soaked, seven-month-old fetus next to her on her bed. A photo of the mother with her dead child circulated online, causing national outrage. “This is what they say the Japanese devils and Nazis did,” a comment on the website netease.com said.
Eventually, family planning officials paid Feng 70,600 yuan to settle the matter. Deng Jiyuan said he and his wife still want another child.
In Changsha, in Hunan, the price of a life is $24,000. Cao Ruyi, five months pregnant, didn’t have that much. She was lucky. After being detained, Cao was released because US Congressman Chris Smith of New Jersey intervened on her behalf. She was allowed to leave the hospital after signing an agreement to abort her child. She is now in hiding until her baby is born.