Chinese officials tried to force a mother who was visiting from Hong Kong to abort her six-month-old fetus under China's one-child policy, but Hong Kong's government intervened to save the unborn baby, a newspaper reported yesterday.
The Hong Konger, identified only by her surname Hong, and her two young children were staying with relatives at a town in Hunan Province when family planning officials came to their home and said she had to get rid of the child, Hong Kong's Apple Daily said.
The officials tried to drag Hong to a hospital but her relatives stopped them, and Hong then contacted Hong Kong authorities who asked Hunan police to intervene, the report said.
Local officials later apologized to Hong, who arrived in Hunan on June 28 and was planning to return to Hong Kong yesterday.
For three decades, China has limited most couples to one child to stem population growth in the country of 1.3 billion people. Critics say the policy has led to forced abortions.
Hong Kong maintains separate political and economic systems, and the one-child policy doesn't apply there.
Hong Kong's Immigration Department helped Hong as much as it could, department spokesman Sunny Ho told reporters. Ho declined to provide details.
A woman who answered the phone at the press office of Hunan's provincial police department referred questions to the department's immigration control division. Phone calls to that office didn't go through.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS