Information on this specific subject could not be found among the sources currently available to the DIRB in Ottawa. However, attached please find the 1992 Adoption Law of the People's Republic of China, which may be of interest.

According to article 6 of the 1992 Adoption Law, a person can adopt a child if he or she is 35 years old or more, childless and capable of raising and educating the child. Article 8 states that a prospective parent can adopt one child only, though these conditions do not apply in the case of orphans or disabled children.

Concerning the procedure for adoption, article 15 of the law states that the adoption must be finalized in a written agreement between the adopter and the person putting the child up for adoption, and must be registered with the civil affairs department.

The 1992 Adoption Law does not provide penalties for contraventions of these provisions.

According to a report on China's demographic problems published by the Population Reference Bureau in Washington DC, adoptions rose sharply after the institution of the one-child policy (Population Bulletin June 1992, 17). This source reported 500,000 cases of adoption in 1987 and about 400,000 per year between 1984 and 1986, compared with fewer than 200,000 before 1979 (ibid.). The Ministry of Justice stated that only 185,000 cases were registered from 1980 to 1991 (Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs July 1993, 65). For further information, please refer to the attached documents.

This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find attached the list of sources consulted in researching this information request.

References

Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs [Canberra]. July 1993. No. 30. Kay Johnson. "Chinese Orphanages: Saving China's Abandoned Girls."

People's Republic of China. 1 April 1992. Adoption Law of People's Republic of China. (Faxed to the DIRB in Ottawa by the Department of Justice of Quebec.)

Population Bulletin [Washington, DC]. June 1992. Vol. 47, No. 1. H. Yuan Tien et al. "China's Demographic Problems."

Attachments

Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs [Canberra]. July 1993. No. 30. Kay Johnson. "Chinese Orphanages: Saving China's Abandoned Girls," pp. 60-87.

The New York Times. 22 June 1992. Late Edition. Sheryl Dunn. "Chinese Might Simplify Adoptions by Foreigners." (NEXIS)

People's Republic of China. 1 April 1992. Adoption Law of People's Republic of China. (Faxed to the DIRB in Ottawa by the Department of Justice of Quebec.)

Population Bulletin [Washington, DC]. June 1992. Vol. 47, No. 1. H. Yuan Tien et al. "China's Demographic Problems," pp. 1-20.

South China Morning Post [Hong Kong]. 12 June 1994. Billy Wong Wai-Yuk. "The Children Left to Rot in Squalor." (NEXIS)

Other Sources Consulted

Amnesty International Report. 1992, 1993.

Asian Survey [Berkeley, Calif.]. Monthly.

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. 1992, 1993.

Critique: Review of the Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. 1992.

Human Rights Watch World Report. 1993, 1994.

Pacific Affairs [Vancouver]. Quarterly.

Women-Nation-State. 1989. London: McMillan.

On-line search and oral sources.