"Population and social adjustment" is probably a brand new "concept and vocabulary" that most Chinese people have hardly heard of or thought of before July 5, 2022. However, in this short day, a "Notice" from Quanzhou County, Guilin, Guangxi, has made this term popular throughout the network, and has also made the fate of children born beyond the family planning policy highly visible.

Event Summary

Tang and Deng have previously reported cases of suspected child abduction and trafficking to relevant authorities in Quanzhou County.

From the early morning of July 5, 2022, a "Notice on the Rejection of Letters and Calls from Tang and Deng" was circulated online by the Health and Health Bureau of Quanzhou County, The core content is as follows: "In the 1990s, in order to control the population size and improve the quality of the population, the prefectural and county party committees and governments, in accordance with the deployment requirements of the then regional and municipal family planning work meetings, chose one of the children who violated the family planning laws, regulations, and policies to forcibly exceed the birth limit, and the entire county uniformly took it away for social adjustment. In order to facilitate the work, no records were kept of the whereabouts of the children."

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On the afternoon of July 5th, the Information Office of the Guilin Municipal Government released a statement stating that the Quanzhou County Health Bureau had improperly handled complaint reporting matters. The director and deputy director in charge of the bureau and other relevant personnel have been suspended for inspection. The Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Organization Department of the Municipal Party Committee and other relevant departments have formed a joint working group to investigate the matter.

According to the Guangxi Daily News, in accordance with the requirements of the Autonomous Region Party Committee, the Autonomous Region Discipline Inspection Commission and Supervision Commission, together with relevant departments, quickly dispatched a working group to guide the investigation and handling of Guilin City.
Eight Questions about the Quanzhou Incident

1、 What is "population social adjustment"?

According to the content of the "Notice", it can be seen that the so-called "social adjustment of population" in the whole state means: "Select one of the extra children in each family and take them away by the whole county for social adjustment, and the destination is unknown."

The so-called mediation, in terms of the Chinese meaning and the understanding of normal people, usually refers to the transaction, exchange, and circulation of goods or goods, as well as the exchange of talents and positions. "Population adjustment" for living newborn children is beyond the imagination of civilized society.

2、 Is there a legal and regulatory basis for "population and social adjustment"?

Not at all.

According to the disclosure in the "Notice", the "social adjustment of population" in Guangxi occurred in the 1990s. At that time, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region had issued the "Family Planning Regulations" in September 1988, which were local regulations. The People's Government of the Autonomous Region has also followed suit in formulating the "Implementation Rules", which are government regulations. "It also only stipulates that those who exceed pregnancy or childbirth should pay a fine. In principle, the fine should be paid in one lump sum. If there are indeed difficulties, delivery can be made in installments or within a time limit. If the delivery is not made within the time limit, it can be offset by non productive physical goods.". In addition, there are no other penalties, and at most, there are no social welfare rewards or preferential treatment.

For public authorities, acts of arbitrary human rights violations such as forcibly taking away children are serious violations of the law, as they are not authorized by law.
3、 Is "population social adjustment" reasonable?

The author believes that the question of how to forcibly take a newborn away and adjust it against human ethics is too self-evident, and it is meaningless to use too much language to describe it.

We noticed that the general tone of the incident at that time was "controlling the population and improving the quality of the population". So, I have to ask:

It is undeniable that individual infertile families may indeed have a need to adopt children. However, in the 1980s and 1990s, super birth was an extremely common phenomenon, and adopters must meet certain strict conditions and not be able to adopt casually. Compared to supply and demand, what are the legal destinations for "transferred" children?

At that time, the whole country was vigorously engaged in family planning, and would other places want the population that Guangxi and Quanzhou did not want? Where do you want to transfer?

3. Can the population here be controlled or decreased when the population is relocated there? Unless the child who is being transferred disappears from the land of China. Where have these vivid lives gone?

The most frightening thing is that the whereabouts of the newborns being transferred are unknown and no records are kept, which is also known as "for the convenience of work.". If it is possible to see sunlight in the adoption and adoption, there must be corresponding legal and regulatory registration procedures. So, what are you trying to erase by not keeping any records here?

4、 What criminal offences may be involved in the state wide incident?

The crime of abducting and trafficking in children: The crime of abducting and trafficking in women and children refers to the act of abducting, kidnapping, buying, selling, transporting, or transferring children for the purpose of selling them. As long as one of these acts is committed, it constitutes a cost crime. "If the children transferred from the whole state are actually illegally trafficked, the" unified carrying away "of children born beyond the limit in the whole state and county is at least a transfer or transfer.". And from the information displayed in the "Notice", it may be more than that. In addition, it should be noted that selling for the purpose is not completely equal to making profits, and constituting the crime of kidnapping and selling children does not absolutely require making profits as a condition.

Crime of Abuse of Power: The crime of abuse of power refers to the act of government functionaries intentionally overstepping their powers, failing to comply with or violate legal decisions or handle matters that they are not authorized to decide or handle, or violating regulations to handle official duties, resulting in significant losses to public property, the interests of the country and the people. There is no legal basis for "population adjustment" operations in the whole prefecture and county, which is clearly suspected of abuse of power.

"If both child trafficking and abuse of power are met, they are considered imaginative joinder and punished with a felony.".

5、 Nearly 30 years ago, can we escape the limitation of criminal prosecution?

This involves the issue of the 1979 Criminal Law and the 1997 Criminal Law, both of which have significantly different provisions on the crime of human trafficking. "However, for cases of particularly serious human trafficking, no matter when the law is applied, the maximum penalty can be death.".

According to the provisions of Article 1, paragraph 3, of the Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on the Severe Punishment of Criminals Who Seriously Threaten Public Security (1983), the ringleaders of groups engaged in trafficking in human beings, or if the circumstances of trafficking in human beings are particularly serious, may be sentenced to a penalty of not less than the maximum penalty prescribed by the Criminal Law, up to the death penalty.

Article 240 of the current Criminal Law stipulates that if the circumstances of kidnapping and trafficking in women and children are particularly serious, they shall be sentenced to death and confiscation of property.

In terms of the limitation of prosecution, although the criminal law stipulates that the legal maximum penalty is life imprisonment or death penalty, after 20 years, prosecution will not be pursued. However, it is also stipulated that if it is considered necessary to prosecute after 20 years, it must be reported to the Supreme People's Procuratorate for approval. One of the conditions that must be prosecuted here is that "the nature, circumstances, and consequences of the suspected crime are particularly serious. Although the prosecution period of 20 years has passed, the social harmfulness and impact still exist. Failure to prosecute can seriously affect social stability or have other serious consequences.". Therefore, it is still possible to pursue the case, which depends on the specific work of the relevant authorities.

6、 Can the current handling method of Guilin Municipal Government be convincing?

It is undeniable that the response of the Guilin Municipal Government is timely enough, but of course, it may also be a "last resort" in the face of the fierce public opinion in the developed network era. However, whether the punishment of the current director and deputy director in charge and other relevant personnel is sufficient to explain to the society and the injured family. This way of handling can't help but raise doubts among people.

How likely is it that the "population adjustment" 30 years ago was related to the current director and deputy director?

2. Is it just because they improperly handled complaint reporting matters? To be honest, the wording of the "Notice" issued by the Health and Health Bureau of Quanzhou County does not have sufficient political savvy. But if the disclosure is indeed an objective fact, why should it be so inappropriate as to be punished? Is covering up the truth the proper way to handle letters and visits?

7、 What kind of grassroots law enforcement ecology does the state wide incident reflect?

The willful nature of rights, disregard for the rule of law, ignorance of the law, and disregard for human rights.
In 1997, the 15th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) adopted "ruling the country according to law" as a basic strategy for governing the country for 25 years. In the past 25 years, the country has made significant progress in building the rule of law and socialist spiritual civilization. However, the shadow of a small number of grassroots power operations that are relatively closed, a few law enforcers who are lawless, and the abuse of public power revealed behind the state wide incident still seems to exist today. The construction of a socialist harmonious society and a society ruled by law is hindered and has a long way to go.

8、 How to effectively solve historical problems and save the credibility of the government?

Undoubtedly, the whole state incident is an extremely complex issue, involving multiple issues such as population and economy, morality and law, ethics and society, whether the law is responsible for the public or not, history and reality. It is an extremely complex project, and the difficulty in solving it is far beyond that of the previous Xuzhou Iron Chain Women Incident and Tangshan Hitting Incident.

But our country is a socialist country, and our government is the government of the people, with sufficient capacity and mission to solve all problems. "Errors and sins should not be simply covered by the phrase" historical legacy issues. ". The 1990s of the entire state should not be an eternal darkness, and today's cries of victims and the cries and heated debates of the people should not be just a momentary uproar.

The "Iron Chained Woman" incident in Xuzhou, which caused a nationwide sensation six months ago, was closed to the public, and I really don't know whether it ended like that. However, since then, combating the crime of trafficking in women and children has become a special national action from March 1 to December 31. In any case, what people expect is effective results, the legitimate rights and interests of women and children can be effectively safeguarded, and the human rights of citizens of the People's Republic of China can be demonstrated.

Write at the end

"The history is long, the reality is complex, how many absurd and absurd things are hidden in the vast land of China, and how many secrets are hidden in the civilized country that are slowly unknown?"? Augustine once said, "Every crisis not only contains the root of failure, but also breeds the seeds of success. Finding, cultivating, and harvesting potential opportunities for success are the essence of crisis management." With full expectations, our government's credibility can continue to improve through successive storms and snows!