Response published in China Daily to the testimony of Gao Xiaoduan
Abuse claims groundless LAST week, Gao Xiaoduan, a Chinese woman who has emigrated to the United States, threw dirt at China's family planning policy in a hearing held by the US Congress.
Instead of censuring her for her blatant vilification, the Voice of America and the Associated Press played up Gao's distortions, disparaging China's family planning policy as a clear case of human rights abuse.
China is very proud of its successful control over population growth through its family planning policy, and finds allegations like this, obviously made by people who have an axe to grind, unfair, inaccurate and unbearable.
To achieve sustained socioeconomic development, an effective family planning policy is the only option for China.
A basic State policy adopted 18 years ago, family planning has taken root in Chinese people's hearts and become their voluntary choice today for the sake of a better quality of life.
Their choice, which will surely benefit the development of China, and in a larger arena, the stability of the whole world, should be celebrated by the rest of the world, instead of having to face misunderstanding and even denouncement.
The Chinese people's voluntary choice of birth-control embodies their highest respect for human rights. If such a choice can be depicted as human rights abuse, then, properly speaking, no country in the world can be said to hold human rights in high esteem. (Yang Chunya). Date: 06/16/98