Iron Fist Campaign
Encyclopedia
The Iron Fist Campaign was a sterilization program conducted in the summer of 2010 by family planning officials in Puning
, a county in Guangdong
, China
.
introduced the one-child policy
, which legally prevents couples from having more than one child, though there are some exemptions. The policy was created to address the country's overpopulation issue and economic problems.
By 2010, family planning efforts in Puning
had diminished due to rapid economic growth in the area, as Guangdong
had become the most successful manufacturing region in the People's Republic of China
. However, local family planning officials were pressured to reduce births to meet the nationwide quotas. Chen Hong-Ping, the regional Communist Party chief, launched the Iron Fist Campaign in order to meet these demands.
described the campaign as "appalling" and voiced her opinion that "authorities must condemn this practice immediately".
Puning
Puning is a county-level city in the municipal region of Jieyang, Guangdong, China.-Puning in the News:The city's family planning excesses attracted first national then international attention in 2010 April due to the Iron Fist Campaign....
, a county in Guangdong
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
, China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
.
Background
In 1978, the Chinese governmentGovernment of the People's Republic of China
All power within the government of the People's Republic of China is divided among three bodies: the People's Republic of China, State Council, and the People's Liberation Army . This article is concerned with the formal structure of the state, its departments and their responsibilities...
introduced the one-child policy
One-child policy
The one-child policy refers to the one-child limitation applying to a minority of families in the population control policy of the People's Republic of China . The Chinese government refers to it under the official translation of family planning policy...
, which legally prevents couples from having more than one child, though there are some exemptions. The policy was created to address the country's overpopulation issue and economic problems.
By 2010, family planning efforts in Puning
Puning
Puning is a county-level city in the municipal region of Jieyang, Guangdong, China.-Puning in the News:The city's family planning excesses attracted first national then international attention in 2010 April due to the Iron Fist Campaign....
had diminished due to rapid economic growth in the area, as Guangdong
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
had become the most successful manufacturing region in the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
. However, local family planning officials were pressured to reduce births to meet the nationwide quotas. Chen Hong-Ping, the regional Communist Party chief, launched the Iron Fist Campaign in order to meet these demands.
Campaign
In April 2010, a task force of approximately 600 local officials targeted 9,559 women who had violated the country's one-child policy. The women were required to report to government clinics to undergo sterilization. Family members of those women who had refused sterilization were detained indefinitely until the women complied with the procedure. In some cases, the women themselves were detained. Over the course of the 20-day campaign, 1,377 people were detained. From April to June, over 9,000 women were reported to have been sterilized as a result of the campaign.Criticism
News of the campaign did not make major headlines outside of local newspapers. He Yafu, an independent expert on family planning in China, suggested that the central government made an effort to conceal the results of the campaign because Chinese law specifically prohibited the means used to enforce it. Provincial officials have reported that the local Puning authorities will be investigated to determine the legality of their actions. Kate Allen of Amnesty InternationalAmnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
described the campaign as "appalling" and voiced her opinion that "authorities must condemn this practice immediately".