As usual, a lot of crap posted by people who have absolutely no knowledge of China except for what they read or hear from our sensationalistic media. Except for Psycho and Flesh that is, the regular voices of reason.

The fuss made over General Zhu's comments is laughable. All he was saying was that if we think we can bomb the shit out of them without any retaliation we are wrong. China is not Iraq or Afghanistan, they are not completely powerless, they won't just sit back while we destroy them. The problem is that China has no way of projecting any conventional force very far beyond it's borders. It has no blue water navy to speak of and can't park a bunch of carriers off our coast. It can't send troops into Mexico or set up air force bases in Canada. Basically they have no other way to fight back, no other deterrent, other than to nuke us. All Zhu was doing was reminding us of that fact. Now I know we're all good flag waving patriots but do we really expect that every other country in the worls should just let us destroy them without a fight??

Psycho is correct, the Chinese do value life. The whole "forced abortion" issue has been blown way out of proportion here in the U.S. and very few people really know what is going on over there. Our media seizes upon a few random stories, from who knows when, and projects that image onto the entire country. Well, here are a few actual facts:

-China does have a one child policy. That is the law and it is well known. Before you disagree with this policy go and spend some time in Shanghai and see what a city with over 14 million people is like, Now imagine if all those people were having 3-4 kids instead of just one.

-Before you get married you have to sign a contract stating that you understand this and will abide by this. So, it's not a surprise to anyone. I, a White American, was married in China and had to sign this form too. Otherwise, I couldn't have gotten married.

-Recently, China has realized that, in a few decades, it will not have enough young people to support its aging population. So now, it has been decided that if a couple is made up of two only children, that couple can have two children.

-China has a large population of "minorities", people who are very similar to the Hill Tribe People of northern Thailand. The Chinese government treats these people the way the U.S. Government should treat our Native Americans. They are largely responsible for determining and enforcing their own laws. These people can have as many children as they want. No restrictions.

- Actual cases of women being dragged into a clinic and forced to have an abortion are few and far between. 20-25 years ago, when China was just coming out of the Cultural Revolution, this may have been more common but not so much now. China is a big country, however, with a rugged landscape. there are a lot of isolated towns and villages that are run by corrupt politicians with a bit too much gusto for the old days. Modern day cases of forced abortions most likely come from these areas. They are not actually sanctioned by the Chinese Govt itself. I will admit, however, that the Chinese Gov't does tend to look the other way when it happens and this needs to stop.

-In most cases if a woman becomes pregnant with a 2nd child the family must pay a large fine. The fine is an enormous amount for most Chinese and will essentially ruin them. If the woman has an abortion, however, they do not have to pay. Bottom line, whether or not we agree with the law, it is the law and the couple has broken it. Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.

-And finally...I actually know a couple, friends of my wife from college, who illegally had a 2nd child. The woman was not dragged in for a forced abortion and the baby was not killed as soon as it was born. Instead, they were forced to pay a fine of about US$30K. Fortunately, for them, they are among Shanghai's new wealthy and they just considered the fine to be the cost of the child, like buying a new car.

So yeah, the one child policy is pretty fucked up for those Chinese who want to have more than one child. Enforcement of it is far from perfect and can ruin some people's lives. But it is a far cry from what our media would have us believe. And, given China's massive population, you don't need to stay there very long before you realize that some form of population control isn't such a bad idea.

Again, this needs repeating: Much of what we hear about regarding China from our media is blown way out of proportion. Our media, in order to generate more advertising $, needs news that is sensationalistic. The truth is often boring and boring does not sell. A good Villan sells, however, and right now China is the villan of choice. So, they find isolated incidents and apply them to the whole country, fail to mention the whole story, and spoon feed us bullshit to perpetuate their myths. Just think how we would look to other countries if their media did the same??
Fengzi Reviewed by Fengzi on . Chinese General Warns May Nuke Hundreds of US Cities iran that has no nukes is the threat. china, that has a couple hundred nukes pointed at our most populated cities and threatening to attack us...eh, no big deal... Chinese General Warns May Nuke Hundreds of US Cities Guardian | July 16, 2005 By Jonathan Watts COMMENT: Oh how bottomless the Memory Hole is. Less than a year ago a representative of the Chinese government declared pubicly that China could destroy hundreds of US cities at a moments notice. It was allowed to be forgotten Rating: 5