Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

1. Overview

In correspondence with the Research Directorate, a senior scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who has conducted research on China's family planning policy, indicated that parents who had a second child before the implementation of the two-child policy in [January (US 18 Nov. 2019, 150)] 2016 would "still be punished" (Senior Scientist 2 May 2020). In a telephone interview with the Research Directorate, a professor of social science and public policy at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, who has conducted research on population policy in Asia, stated that there is no "explicit" document which directs the retroactive enforcement of the one-child policy (Professor 24 Apr. 2020). Caixin, a China-based non-government-run publication (WSJ 7 July 2011), similarly reports that there is no national guideline on how local authorities should treat second children born one to two years before the implementation of the two-child policy (Caixin 6 Feb. 2017). The same source quotes Yang Wenxhuang, a deputy director of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, as stating the following:

"In a case where the government has already made the decision to fine, then it should collect the fine. But if the decision hasn't been made yet, the local government can judge by itself." (Caixin 6 Feb. 2017)

Caixin notes that most provinces consider giving birth to a second child in 2014 or 2015 to be a punishable offense (Caixin 6 Feb. 2017).

The Senior Scientist stated that the parents would be penalized by a social compensation fee and dismissed from their jobs (Senior Scientist 2 May 2020). According to the Professor, for civil servants, employees of state-owned enterprises and companies that have contracts with the government, violating family planning policies can be "very damaging" to their careers (Professor 24 Apr. 2020). The Annual Report 2017 of the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), citing China-based news sources including China Youth Daily and China Business Network, indicates that in 2017 there was an increase in the number of administrative lawsuits filed against family planning bureaus for imposing social compensation fees on retroactive one-child policy violations (US 5 Oct. 2017, 157, 166).

Caixin indicates that the severity of retroactive punishment for one-child policy violation varies by province, with some provinces such as Zhejiang taking "a tough line," while other provinces such as Shaanxi adopt "a relatively relaxed policy" (Caixin 6 Feb. 2017). Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response. The Professor stated that having a record of individuals' "so-called misdemeanours" grants officials a "degree of control over people" (Professor 24 Apr. 2020). Caixin describes punishments as "negotiated on a case-by-case basis" (Caixin 6 Feb. 2017).

2. Sterilization

The US CECC Annual Report 2019, citing Chinese local government and media sources, indicates that the official reports of some local governments directed family planning authorities to perform the "'three inspections' (intra-uterine device (IUD), pregnancy, and health inspections) and 'four procedures' (IUD insertion, first trimester abortion, mid- to late-term abortion, and sterilization)" (US 18 Nov. 2019, 125, 132). Sixth Tone, a Shanghai-based online English-language publication owned by the state-run Shanghai United Media Group (FP 3 June 2016), reports that annual sterilization quotas, based on the number of women of reproductive age in each village, are "common" in Zhenxiong county in the Yunnan province; any couple who has given birth to two children is eligible to be selected for sterilization since the implementation of the two-child policy, whereas under the previous family planning policy, any one-child couple was eligible (Sixth Tone 22 Feb. 2017). The same source, citing a village leader and a former village leader in Zhenxiong, describes sterilization as "commonplace," though "not necessarily carried out under coercion" (Sixth Tone 22 Feb. 2017). The same article quotes Zhu Qiyun, a party secretary of Banqiao village in Zhenxiong county, as indicating that cuts to government funding and public service jobs followed the village's failure to meet the sterilization quota by three operations and that quota enforcement is "'very hard work to carry out'" (Sixth Tone 22 Feb. 2017). Further and corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

Information on retroactive enforcement of the one-child policy for an individual with a previously-issued sterilization notice could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

3. Cases of Retroactive Enforcement of the One-Child Policy

The US CECC Annual Report 2016, citing Jiemian, a Chinese media outlet, indicates that in January 2016 local authorities in Jianli county in the Hubei province imposed a social compensation fee of 97,800 yuan (CNY) [approximately C$18,637] on a woman who gave birth to her second child in May 2015 (US 6 Oct. 2016, 5). The same source further states that after the woman filed a lawsuit against the county population and family planning bureau, she was pressured by family planning officials and public security officers to pay the fine and to delete her social media post denouncing the actions of the local authorities (US 6 Oct. 2016, 5).

Sixth Tone reports that a couple in Suining county in the Jiangsu province, who gave birth to their second child in June 2012, received a fine from the local health and family planning commission in May 2016 (Sixth Tone 22 Nov. 2017). The same source indicates that the couple lost two court cases in lower courts challenging the fine, but that a high court accepted the couple's appeal in November 2017 (Sixth Tone 22 Nov. 2017). The same article states that there were two other lawsuits in Zhejiang provinces with couples contesting similar retroactive fines, but both plaintiffs withdrew their appeals after mediation (Sixth Tone 22 Nov. 2017). Further and corroborating information, including the outcome of the high court case, could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

Caixin describes the following cases:

• In March 2016, local authorities "urged" a father with two children in eastern Fujian to pay fines for violating the one-child policy; he did not pay the fine and had not been contacted again by officials as of February 2017 (Caixin 6 Feb. 2017);
• A father from Zhangzhou in Fujian province, who had a second child in 2014, was fined 60,000 CNY [approximately C$11,423] in October 2016, but was allowed to pay 20,000 CNY [approximately C$3,808] after giving "'gifts'" to the local family planning officials (Caixin 6 Feb. 2017);
• A man in Zhejiang province received an enforcement notice in January 2017 for an overdue fine of 170,000 CNY [approximately C$32,371] for a second child born in July 2014, warning that unless he paid, the couple's bank account would be frozen, they would not be able to buy train tickets or stay in hotels and their names would be placed on an online government's "'List of People with Bad Credit'" (Caixin 6 Feb. 2017). A total of 109 families in Zhejiang received similar notices in January 2017 (Caixin 6 Feb. 2017). For additional information on the social credit system, including punishments for blacklisted individuals, see Response to Information Request CHN106377 of February 2020.

The information in the following paragraph was provided in a December 2017 article published in The Paper, a Chinese-language "state-backed" online publication and sister publication of Sixth Tone (FP 3 June 2016):

A couple gave birth on 15 November 2015 to their second-child during a visit to the US. The couple returned to China in February 2016 and reported the birth to their respective employers in April 2016. The [translation] "Guangzhou Municipal Health and Planning Commission" responded to a letter of inquiry from the husband's work unit in January 2017, declaring the birth as "outside of the family planning policy." After the husband filed a complaint against its decision, the Guangzhou Municipal Health and Planning Commission issued a second letter in September 2017 reiterating that the birth was considered outside of the family planning policy. Additionally, despite the husband's work unit recommending issuing a warning, the [translation] "municipal department for discipline inspection" suggested expelling the husband from the Communist Party and dismissing him from his job as a deputy director at a Guangzhou government unit. As of December 2017, the husband indicated that he was awaiting the final decision of his work unit (The Paper 12 Dec. 2017).

Sixth Tone reports that in May 2018 Guangdong amended its family planning regulations, changing the clause which directed the dismissal of government employees who violate family planning policies (Sixth Tone 16 Jan. 2020). Article 40 of the amendments to the Regulations of Guangdong Province on Population and Family Planning adopted on 31 May 2018 provides the following:

[translation]

Article 40 is amended to: "For personnel who shall pay the social maintenance fees according to applicable laws and legal requirements, if he or she is a functionary of state organs, he or she shall also be subject to administrative punishments according to the law; other personnel shall also be given disciplinary punishments by the units or organizations from where they belong to." (Guangdong 2018)

For the complete English translation of the Regulations of Guangdong Province on Population and Family Planning, see Response to Information Request CHN106271 of April 2019. Sixth Tone states that according to civil service law, punishments can include being dismissed (Sixth Tone 16 Jan. 2020). Sources indicate that a public security officer in the city of Yunfu in Guangdong was fired in late 2018 for violating family planning policies (Sixth Tone 16 Jan. 2020; China Daily 23 Jan. 2020). A January 2020 article in China Daily, a state-owned English-language newspaper (Freedom House Jan. 2020, 5), indicates that Guangzhou will no longer dismiss public servants and employees of state-owned enterprises for violating family planning policies (China Daily 23 Jan. 2020). Further and corroborating information, including the outcome of the case of the deputy director in Guangzhou, could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Caixin. 6 February 2017. Song Shiqing and Liu Jiaying. "China Fining Parents for Second Kid Born Before One-Child Policy Scrapped." [Accessed 10 June 2020]

China Daily. 23 January 2020. Zheng Caixiong. "Guangzhou Will No Longer Fire Staff for Having More than Two Kids." [Accessed 10 June 2020]

Foreign Policy (FP). 3 June 2016. Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian. "China, Explained." [Accessed 22 May 2020]

Freedom House. January 2020. Sarah Cook. Beijing's Global Megaphone: The Expansion of Chinese Communist Party Media Influence Since 2017. [Accessed 3 July 2020]

Guangdong. 2018. 广东省人民代表大会常务委员会关于修改《广东省人口与计划生育条例》的决定(广东省第十三届人民代表大会常务委员会第5号公告) (Decision of the Standing Committee of Guangdong Provincial People’s Congress on Amendments to "Guangdong Province Population and Family Planning Regulations" (Announcement No. 5 of the Standing Committee of the 13th Guangdong Provincial People’s Congress)). Translated by the Translation Bureau, Public Services and Procurement Canada. [Accessed 14 Feb. 2019]

The Paper. 12 December 2017. Zhao Meng. "广州副处级干部生育政策前二孩,被市卫计委认定违法面临开除." [Accessed 3 June 2020]

Professor, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. 24 April 2020. Telephone interview with the Research Directorate.

Senior Scientist, University of Wisconsin-Madison. 2 May 2020. Correspondence with the Research Directorate.

Sixth Tone. 16 January 2020. Yuan Ye. "The Chinese Couple Who Dared to Have a Third Child." [Accessed 3 June 2020]

Sixth Tone. 22 November 2017. Wang Lianzhang. "High Court Accepts Against Family Planning Fine." [Accessed 1 June 2020]

Sixth Tone. 22 February 2017. Zhao Meng and Fu Danni. "Sterilization Quotas Endure in Two-Child Policy Era." [Accessed 15 June 2020]

United States (US). 18 November 2019. Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC). Annual Report 2019. [Accessed 15 June 2020]

United States (US). 5 October 2017. Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC). Annual Report 2017. [Accessed 2 June 2020]

United States (US). 6 October 2016. Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC). "Population Control." Annual Report 2016. [Accessed 2 June 2020]

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). 7 July 2011. Loretta Chao. "A Chinese Muckraker Expands Its Mandate." [Accessed 2 June 2020]

Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources: Assistant professor who has conducted research on family demography in East Asia; associate professor who has conducted research on population and aging in China; professor who has conducted research on China population planning after the one-child policy; professor who has conducted research on Chinese population policies; professor who has conducted research on demographic change in China.

Internet sites, including: Al Jazeera; Australia – Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; BBC; ecoi.net; The Economist; Factiva; Freedom House; Global Times; The Guardian; Inkstone; The New York Times; South China Morning Post; The Straits Times; UK – Home Office; UN – Refworld; US – Department of State; Xinhua News Agency.