Go to this article in Forbes by Gordon Chang who reports on China’s coming demographic cratering. China’s fertility rate has declined from 5.9 under Deng to 1.4 presently with the advent of the brutal one-child policy. As Chang explains, the recently announced population-control policy changes will allow a modest number more urban dwellers to have two children. However, this minor adjustment is not going to be rolled out quickly. Perhaps, the greatest resistance to population policy change lies in the fact that the family planning police represent the Communist Party’s strongest control over the populace. Thus, the Party will be deeply reluctant to relax its grip on that nation even though population decline is rapidly approaching. You can also listen to this excellent interview of Chang by John Batchelor. Go to the player and start at 31:00.
