> Yes, this is/was true. I think it's still
>going on. From what I understand, you have to
>apply for a permit to have a baby. Or maybe
>just to have one beyond the first one. As an
>aside, I've heard the rate of infanticide has
>gone way up in China, at least for female
>babies. Since they are only allowed one child
>without special permit, and since male children
>are still valued above female children in
>Chinese society, some people apparently choose
>to kill their firstborn daughters in order to be
>able to keep trying for a son.

Quick pseudo-retraction.

From a little bit of reading I've just done on the internet, it appears that although China does have a one-child policy, the government finds it especially hard to enforce it, especially in rural areas. And the bit about female infanticide is probably great exagerated. Although it has been determined that a great number of little girls are "missing" in China, it is most likely due to a large combination of things, which include simply not reporting female births to the government, a disproportionate number of females given up for adoption domestically and internationally, and sending pregnant women to live with relatives so as to avoid having the child registered to the actual parents at birth. Infanticide is a factor in this as well, but not a major factor from what I read, and probably not more of a factor than it is in other developing countries.

-- Dave