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Letters | Blood tests show gaps remain in teaching some Chinese parents to love all children
- Blood smuggling for gender tests and illegal abortions must stop, but some parents in mainland China also clearly need to change their mindsets on the girl child
I am writing in response to “Mainland desire for boys drives blood smuggling” (May 6). I was surprised to learn that the belief in “having a son to carry on the family name” still lives on in the minds of so many mainland Chinese people.
Your report on how agencies are helping to smuggle blood samples for sex determination is proof that the two-child policy introduced in 2016 has not helped much in changing mindsets. I do not understand how some people can be so backward and continue to treat female children with such disregard. China already has a skewed gender balance because of the preference for boys. The two-child policy appears to have only added fuel to the overriding desire for sons.
There are hard tactics and soft tactics to protect the rights of female babies to live. For hard tactics, banning blood smuggling and illegal abortions are a must. This prevents parents from depriving their babies of a chance to live. For soft tactics, the government should facilitate education and social development, in order to correct the mindsets that do not belong in today’s society.
I hope someday that all the children in the world, irrespective of gender, will receive the same amount of love from their parents and enjoy a joyful childhood.
Angel Ho, Tseung Kwan O
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