The Chinese government is ending its international adoption program, and the US is seeking clarification on how the decision would affect hundreds of American families with pending applications.
In a telephone call with US diplomats in China, Beijing said it “will not continue to process cases at any stage” other than those cases covered by an exception clause.
The US embassy is seeking clarification in writing from the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs, the US Department of State said on Thursday.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“We understand there are hundreds of families still pending completion of their adoption, and we sympathize with their situation,” the state department said.
At a daily briefing on Thursday, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Mao Ning (毛寧) said that China is no longer allowing foreign adoptions of the nation’s children, with the only exception for blood relatives to adopt a child or a stepchild.
She did not explain the decision other than to say that it was in line with the spirit of relevant international conventions.
Many foreigners have adopted children from China over the decades, visiting the nation to pick them up and then taking them to a new home overseas.
US families have adopted 82,674 children from China, the most from any foreign nation.
China suspended international adoptions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The government later resumed adoptions for children who had received travel authorization before the suspension in 2020, the state department said in its latest annual report on adoptions.
A US consulate issued 16 visas for adoptions from China from October 2022 through September last year, the first in more than two years, the state department report said.
It was not clear if any more visas had been issued since then.
Denmark’s only overseas adoption agency in January said that it was winding down operations after concerns were raised about fabricated documents and procedures, while Norway’s top regulatory body recommended stopping overseas adoptions for two years pending an investigation into several cases.
Beijing’s announcement has also followed a falling birthrate in the nation. The number of newborn babies fell to 9.02 million last year, and the overall population declined for the second consecutive year.
School bullies in Singapore are to face caning under new guidelines, but the education minister on Tuesday said it would be meted out only as a last resort with strict safeguards. Human rights groups regularly criticize Singapore for the use of corporal punishment, which remains part of the school and criminal justice systems, but authorities have defended it as a deterrent to crime and serious misconduct. Caning was discussed in the parliament after legislators asked how it would be used in relation to bullying in schools. The debate followed stricter guidelines on serious student misconduct, including bullying, unveiled by the Singaporean Ministry of
‘GROSS NEGLIGENCE?’ Despite a spleen typically being significantly smaller than a liver, the surgeon said he believed Bryan’s spleen was ‘double the size of what is normal’ A Florida surgeon who is facing criminal charges after allegedly removing a patient’s liver instead of his spleen has said he is “forever traumatized” by that person’s death. In a deposition from November last year that was recently obtained by NBC, 44-year-old Thomas Shaknovsky described the death of 70-year-old William Bryan as an “incredibly unfortunate event that I regret deeply.” Bryan died after the botched surgery; and last month, a grand jury in Tallahassee indicted Shaknovsky on a charge of manslaughter. “I’m forever traumatized by it and hurt by it,” Shaknovsky added, also saying that wrong-site surgeries can happen “during
A MESSAGE: Japan’s participation in the Balikatan drills is a clear deterrence signal to China not to attack Taiwan while the US is busy in the Middle East, an analyst said The Japan Self-Defense Forces yesterday fired a Type 88 anti-ship missile during a joint maritime exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces, hitting a decommissioned Philippine Navy ship in waters facing the disputed South China Sea, in drills that underscore Tokyo’s rising willingness to project military power on China’s doorstep. The drill took place as Manila and Tokyo began talks on a potential defense equipment transfer, made possible by Japan’s decision to scrap restrictions on military exports. The discussions include the possible early transfer of Abukuma-class destroyers and TC-90 aircraft to the Philippines, Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. Philippine Secretary of
A South Korean judge who last week more than doubled former South Korean first lady Kim Keon-hee’s prison sentence was found dead yesterday, police said. Shin Jong-o was found unconscious at about 1am at the Seoul High Court building, an investigator at the Seocho District Police Station in Seoul said. Shin was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead, he said. “There is no sign of foul play in the death,” the investigator added. Local media reported that Shin had left a suicide note, but the investigator said there was none. On Tuesday last week, Shin presided over 53-year-old Kim’s appeal trial, finding her guilty
RSS