China will not consider changing its one-child policy for at least another decade, the country's top family planning official said in an interview published yesterday.
Zhang Weiqing (
"Given such a large population base, there would be major fluctuations in population growth if we abandoned the one-child rule now," the newspaper quoted him as saying in a front-page story. "It would cause serious problems and add extra pressure on social and economic development."
Any change in the policy would be considered only after the end of the country's next birth peak in 10 years, Zhang said, adding "after the new birth peak ends, we may adjust the policy if there is need."
Over the next decade, nearly 200 million people are expected to enter childbearing years.
The one-child policy, launched during the late 1970s, has prevented an additional 400 million births. China's population currently stands at 1.3 billion, growing by 16 million to 17 million annually.
The one-child limit applies to only a portion of the population. In general, urban couples are restricted to one while rural couples are allowed up to two if their first child is a girl. Ethnic minorities are also exempt from these rules.
Zhang's remarks, made on the sidelines of the National People's Congress and published in several papers, were clearly aimed at slapping down recent reports that the country was considering scrapping the policy. Several officials have suggested an overhaul of the policy might be forthcoming since Beijing has slowed population growth.
"Getting rid of the one-child policy now would create more problems than it would solve," Zhang said.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
STORM’S PATH: Kong-Rey could be the first typhoon to make landfall in Taiwan in November since Gilda in 1967. Taitung-Green Island ferry services have been halted Tropical Storm Kong-rey is forecast to strengthen into a typhoon early today and could make landfall in Taitung County between late Thursday and early Friday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, Kong-Rey was 1,030km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the nation’s southernmost point, and was moving west at 7kph. The tropical storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126 kph, CWA data showed. After landing in Taitung, the eye of the storm is forecast to move into the Taiwan Strait through central Taiwan on Friday morning, the agency said. With the storm moving
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The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
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