China announced it will relax its decades-long one-child policy and abolish labor camps in an effort
to improve human rights.
The biggest change could be the abolishment of the so-called “re-education through labor” system
under which tens of thousands are imprisoned in China without trial.
Set up in 1957, the system allows the police to detain petty offenders — such as thieves, prostitutes
and drug addicts — in labor camps for up to four years without a trial.
Meanwhile, the policy will be slightly relaxed so that couples will be allowed to have two children if
one of the parents was an only child. Currently, both parents must be sole children to be eligible for a
second child.
I ? Word Understanding
Abolish- end
Re-education- to teach someone
Imprisoned- kept in prison
Petty offenders- casual criminals
II ? Have your say
1.The one-child policy, though applauded by many for slowing down China’s population growth, has
been widely criticized. The policy has direct negative effects to chinese women, especially those who
are violated the laws. Site some example of negative effects to chinese women.
2. Two child per family means another 100 millions Chinese every ten years. In 100 hundred years the
whole world will be just a Big China.Could 2 child policy keep the stability of population?
3. Population growth in developing countries is usually greater than in developed countries. Provide
two reasons why population growth (family size) is likely to be greater in these poorer, developing
countries than in wealthier developed countries.
196 China to ease one-child policy, abolish labor camps, report says
