‘Matter of national pride’: Analysts say nationalism, not population concerns, behind China ending foreign adoptions
In closing the door on foreign adoptions, Beijing did not give a reason, only saying the move was in line with international trends. Come what may, the core issue remains the plight of orphans and abandoned children in the country and how they will be helped, observers note.
SINGAPORE: Ms Chenna Leinders, or Yang Dihuang, was adopted from an orphanage in China’s Hubei province in 2000 when she was just a year and a half old.
“Being adopted has been one of the hardest things I had to deal with in my life, but it’s also one of the most beautiful because it made me who I am today,” the 25-year-old Dutch national told CNA.
She’s but one among tens of thousands of Chinese children taken in by families across the globe since China opened the door to international adoptions three decades ago. But that door is now closed, as Beijing announced earlier this month.
The move is likely fuelled by rising national pride and geopolitical tensions - such as with the United States - as the world’s second-largest economy amps up a push for self-reliance and international clout, analysts say.
While news reports have highlighted the ending of the practice as taking place amid a shrinking population, observers CNA spoke to are sceptical of the link. They say the move will have no meaningful contribution to improving the situation as the tally is too small, plus numbers had already been on the decline.
“The impact of this decision on China’s demographic landscape would be negligible,” said Dr Huang Yanzhong, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and associate professor at Seton Hall University.
“National image concerns may play a significant role, as international adoptions - while benefiting Chinese orphans - could be seen as damaging to China’s reputation or a source of national humiliation,” he told CNA.
FOR THE POPULATION OR POLITICS?
China publicly stated it was putting a stop to its overseas adoption programme on Sep 5, during a daily foreign ministry press briefing.
“Apart from the adoption of a child or stepchild from one’s collateral relatives by blood of the same generation and up to the third degree of kinship by foreigners coming to China, China will not send children abroad for adoption,” said spokesperson Mao Ning.
She did not specify the reasons for doing so, only saying the move was in line with “the spirit of relevant international covenants”.
In a recent editorial, the state-run Global Times described the decision as an “inevitable outcome of China’s development and progress”.
Various media reports have honed in on how the end of the programme comes as China grapples with a shrinking and ageing population. But analysts believe the move has little to do with this.
“The new decision certainly will not impact China’s population decline as the number of adoptions by foreign families is too small to have any meaningful effect,” Dr Zhao Litao, senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) East Asian Institute, told CNA.
FAMILIES LEFT IN LIMBO
The ban has raised uncertainty for families currently in the process of adopting children from China.
