Ethnic minorities in China are being subjected to harsh measures intended to compel them to reduce their birthrates in what some observers see as part of a campaign of demographic control and forcible assimilation.
Measures include pregnancy inspections, enforced use of contraceptives, sterilization, abortions and punishments for having too many children, according to a recent report by Associated Press (AP).
Muslim minorities, such as the Uighurs, are the focus of these efforts.
China has relaxed its ‘one child’ policy, which had long been used to control population growth, as the effects of a gender-imbalanced and ageing population have become apparent. Minority groups, previously not subject to this policy, are now under pressure to curb birthrates – and are being punished for failing to comply.
AP’s investigation shows that a ‘climate of terror’ has been created by this campaign. Interviewees described harassment and punishment meant to discourage childbearing. Official statistics, meanwhile, showed a sharp decline in birthrates. In the Hotan and Kushgar regions, which are predominantly Uighur, birthrates fell by 60% between 2015 and 2018, for example.
Anthropologist Adrian Zenz, an authority on Xinjiang’s ‘re-education camps’, described this as ‘part of a wider control campaign to subjugate the Uighurs’.
Other observers have argued that these measures are meant to weaken the demographic presence of ethnic minorities, to force their assimilation into a state-approved identity. Han Chinese have been encouraged to settle in regions such as Xinjiang, the ethnic complexion of which has changed significantly over the decades.
China’s government has also been wary of the prospect of rebelliousness among the country’s minorities, and the potential of large, religious families incubating terrorism. An extensive system of digital surveillance has been introduced into Xinjiang.
Chinese authorities have disputed these claims, saying that the measures represent ‘equal family planning policies’ for all groups. They would also ‘reduce and stabilize birthrates’.
A spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry told AP: ‘Everyone, regardless of whether they’re an ethnic minority or Han Chinese, must follow and act in accordance with the law.’