The population of the world has past 6 billion and is only going up. Although birth rates continue to increase globally, the rise has not been proportional between different regions. Among the diverse and numerous regions and nations of this world, there is one country that, on its own, hosts nearly 1.3 billion people, or approximately 21 percent of the planet's 6.25 billion. It is the most populated country on the planet. This country has undergone a 700 percent increase in population in the past 300 years, but the last 50 have seen the most rapid expansion. Currently, 16 million new babies are born every year. Although the demographic area of this nation is slightly less than that of the United States, the population is more than five times greater. These figures refer to the People's Republic of China.

Since it is the intention of the Chinese central government to leave this policy in place until the population has been reduced to the satisfaction of the nation's leaders, we must examine the positive and negative consequences of the policy. Those who are in favor of population policy believe that a more limited population could help the problems of the need for more land, mass consumption of natural resources, and environmental destruction. Those against the policy believe that its enforcement is a severe human rights violation and are concerned that its implementation has led to drastically increased numbers of abandoned, unwanted children.

Throughout the second half the twentieth century, the population growth figures indicated that the number of people in China was increasing very rapidly, particularly in the urban areas. It became clear that if the population were permitted to expand at the same rate, land and resources would be in extreme shortage. Although China is composed of a large area of land, only half is actually suitable for crop growth due to rugged terrain in some regions. According to Professor Qu Geping, chair of the Environmental Protection Committee or the Chinese National Peoples Congress, and Professor Li Jinchang, advisor for the Chinese National Environmental Protection Agency, "The expanding population soured relationships between humans and their surroundings. There were simply too many people competing for too few resources."

Land was not the only resource whose availability was threatened by the expanding population. Several other essential resources were and remain in short supply. There are serious concerns over the water supply in China, and since the 1970s, water shortages have become an increasingly frequent occurrence. Professors Geping and Jinchang summarize the situation in saying "Aggregate water resources total 2.8 trillion m^3, ranking sixth in the world. The average amount of water resources per capita, however, stands at 2,700 m^3-much lower than the world average."

In addition to water shortages, water contamination is also a serious problem that has arisen with the expanding population. The growing residential areas in major cities have brought an increase in sewage, and the expanding industrial zones have led to the production of more toxic waste. These pollutants frequently end up streaming into the rivers, causing the waste to travel long distances and spread to more streams and bodies of water. Finding solutions to this problem is a difficult task, as a larger population inevitably demands more resources and produces more waste.

Song Jian, Professor and Vice-President of China Demographic Society has done extensive research on the resources and land available per capita and has concluded that 630 million to 650 million would be China's ideal population size. Before the policy went into place, it was calculated that at a strictly enforced rate of one to two births per couple would bring the population of China back down to around 700 million in approximately 100 years.

Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, executive director of the United Nations Population Fund stated "over the past 20 years, China has seen notable achievements made in population control by implementing the family planning policy. It has thereupon played an active role in curbing the population growth across the world." Although the population has not yet decreased, the growth has slowed in the last several decades, showing that given more time, the policy would be successful in curbing population growth. This would result in positive changes in all of the areas listed above.

Congressman Christopher H. Smith, Vice-Chairman of the House International Relations Committee, states "We heard information about the fines that the government imposes on couples who have unauthorized' children, and how family planning Gestapo destroys the homes and takes the property of those who cannot pay the fines. We heard that women are psychologically and physically pressured to abort unauthorized children, to the point of being dragged to the abortion mill."
The reports have revealed that the government employs thousands in regions all over the country to report any extra pregnancies, either accidental or in purposeful defiance of the law. Women who do become pregnant with an unauthorized child are heavily pressured to abort the baby, often in a violent manner. If a couple does manage to escape a forced abortion, a heavy fine is enforced that most people living in the developing nation cannot afford. Families that do not or cannot pay the fines are forced into relocation or homelessness when the government seizes their homes. Although many Chinese officials deny that this is the case, the number of reports from former population policy enforcers strongly indicates that there are such occurrences.

Another major concern over the population policy is the frequent abandonment of unwanted children. Since the tradition of a wife taking her husband's last name is almost always followed in China, parents often want a son who will be able to carry on the family name. Since most couples are only permitted one child, the birth of a daughter means that the name will not be passed on to future generations. This had led to the abandonment of staggering numbers of Chinese girls, who must then live in shelters and other institutions or on the streets. Kim Lively, the adopted mother of a Chinese baby girl and writer for Adoption Today, reports that over one million young girls are living in Chinese orphanages. As long as the population policy is in place, this number will continue to grow.

However, there are certainly negative consequences to consider. The manner in which population control is enforced has recently been called into serious question following reports of violent forced abortions and seizure of property belonging to those who cannot pay the imposed fines. Another problem is the high rate of child abandonment, particularly baby girls, who overcrowd orphanages throughout the country. But this is not just a concern for the government and people of China to deal with. As this has been proposed as a solution to potential worldwide overpopulation, the world must keep an eye on the consequences, both the good and the bad.