Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion, Disability, Language, or Social Status
There are laws designed to protect women, children, the disabled, and minorities. In practice, however, societal discrimination based on ethnicity, gender, and disability has persisted. The concept of a largely homogeneous Chinese people pervades the thinking of the Han majority.
Women
Violence against women can be grounds for prosecution under the law. Nationwide statistics on the extent of physical violence against women are not available, but the public discussion of the establishment of abuse hot lines and women's centers has focused attention on the problem. In April 1995, the Chairman of the China Academy of Management Science Institute of Women's Studies stated that domestic incidents have become both more violent and more frequent in recent years. In 1994 the Beijing Society for Research on Marriage and the Family published a survey of 2, 1 00 families showing that one-fifth of the wives surveyed had been abused by their spouses.
In recognition of the seriousness of spousal abuse, some areas took measures to address the problem. In February the city of Changsha, Hunan province, implemented China's first provincial regulation on controlling and preventing family violence. The regulation called on grassroots governments and party committees to assist efforts to decrease domestic violence. In March a women's legal hot line was set up 'in Beijing to provide legal advice for women who cannot afford regular attorneys' fees. In May Shanghai opened its first shelter for battered women. A women's legal center, which was opened near Beijing in 1995, was active 'in educating women about their legal rights and offering free or inexpensive legal aid to women and children in need and unable to escape family violence and abuse. The women served were poor, uneducated rural women. Some were not even aware that they could leave home without their husbands permission. The center has been highly successful and has developed a cooperative relatio
nship with police, who have started bringing battered women to the center.
No statute outlaws sexual harassment in the workplace, a problem that is often unaddressed in society and the legal system. A 1996 case highlighted the obstacles that victims of sexual harassment and abuse face in Chinese courts. A woman who complained to peers about sexual harassment by her boss, was sued by him for criminal defamation, found guilty, fined, and sentenced to 2 years in prison. She served 7 months of her sentence before an appeal to a provincial supreme court reversed the decision in her case and found her 'innocent.
The 'increased commercialization of sex and related trafficking 'in women has trapped tens of thousands of women in a cycle of crime and exploitation. These women face a high risk of drug addiction, AIDS, and other sexually transmitted diseases. According to media reports, 80 percent of Beijing's massage parlors offer sex service. In July the Beijing municipal government announced a crackdown on massage parlors 'in the capital, but the long-term effectiveness of the crackdown on this lucrative business, which 'involves organized crime groups, business people, and even the military is uncertain. Unsafe working conditions are rampant among the saunas, massage houses, and hostess bars that have sprung up in large numbers.
The abduction of women is a serious and growing problem. The Government continued to
condemn and to take steps to prevent and punish the abduction and sale of women
for marriage or prostitution. The press reported 'in March that IO Xinjiang farmers, who were
part of a gang, were convicted for abducting and selling as many as 75 women. In June, 24 gang members from Guangdong province were arrested for allegedly abducting and selling 230 young women 'in southern China. According to figures announced by the Ministry of Public Security in January 1994, there were over 15,000 cases of abduction and trafficking in women and children in 1993. In October police broke up China's largest female abduction racket, arresting 62 alleged traffickers and freeing 344 young women after a gunfight in the small village of Maoyanghao in Anhui province.
According to a Chinese media report, more than 80 percent of the village's population was implicated in supporting the racket. The group had sold girls as young as 12 years old. In November police arrested 61 kidnapers 'in Fujian province and set free 79 women and children in a raid.
Some research indicates that a key reason for the abduction and sale of women is a serious imbalance in sex ratios in certain localities. Male/female birth ratios and the traditional preference for boys contribute to this situation (see Section I.f ). This has created a situation where the demand by men for marriageable women cannot be met by local brides. Some families address the problem by recruiting women in economically less advanced areas. Others seek help from criminal gangs, which either kidnap women or trick them by promising them jobs and an easier way of life and then transport them far from their home areas for delivery to buyers. Once in their new "family," these women are "married" and raped. Some accept their fate and join the new community; others struggle and are punished.
The authorities have enacted laws and conducted educational campaigns in an effort to eradicate the traditional preference for sons; however, this preference remains strong in rural China. A number of provinces have sought to reduce the perceived higher value of boys in prove 'ding old-age support for their parents by establishing or improving pensions and retirement homes.
The 1982 Constitution states that "women enjoy equal rights with men 'in all spheres of life," including ownership of property, inheritance rights, and access to education. In 1992 the NPC enacted legislation on the protection of the rights and interests of women, which was designed to assist in curbing gender-based discrimination. Women have continued, however, to report discrimination, sexual harassment, unfair dismissal, demotion, and wage discrepancies.
Women are also sometimes the unintended victims of reforms designed to streamline enterprises and give workers greater job mobility. The press reported that, according to a 1995 survey by the Women's Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Management Science, women constituted 70 percent of persons fired or likely to be fired as a result of restructuring unprofitable state enterprises. Women under the age of 35 or over the age of 45 were the most affected, and the least likely to be retrained. In addition, female employees were more likely to be chosen to take pay cuts when a plant or company was in financial trouble.
Many employers prefer to hire men to avoid the expense of maternity leave and child care, and some even lower the effective retirement age for female workers to 40 years of age. (The official retirement age for men is 60 years and for women 55 years.) Although the law promises equal pay for equal work, a 1990 survey found that women's salaries averaged 77 percent of men's. Those statistics still appear to be accurate. Most women employed in industry work in lower skilled and lower paid jobs.
While the gap in the education levels of men and women is narrowing, men continue to constitute the majority of the relatively small number of Chinese who receive a university-level education. In 1994, 830,000 Chinese graduated from undergraduate institutions. According to the State Education Commission, women made up 35.6 percent of college students and 30.3 percent of postgraduate students. Educators 'in China's large cities have reported, however, that there is a trend toward greater gender balance 'in universities. Some academics have reported that 'in some departments, women are be g to outnumber men--even in some graduate schools. However, women with advanced degrees report an increase in discrimination 'in the hiring process as the job distribution system has opened up and become more competitive.
In March the Government outlined its 5-Year Plan for the Advancement of Women in China. The main priority is to 'increase literacy of rural women, 80 percent of whom are illiterate or nearly illiterate. Overall, women make up about 70 percent of illiterates 'in the country. The AU-China Women's Federation, the country's largest organization devoted to women's issues, stated that one of the goals of the plan was to decrease the number of female illiterates by 3 million every year. Some Chinese women's advocates, however, were skeptical that the goal could be realized because of a lack of resources.
Children
According to a government white paper on children released 'in April, "The Constitution of China ... promotes the all-around moral, intellectual and physical development of children and young people," and prohibits maltreatment of children. The white paper also states that "China's legal framework for the protection of children's rights and interests and its social guarantee mechanisms are effective in practice." China ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 'in 1995.
The Constitution provides for 9 years of compulsory education for children (see Tibet addendum). The extensive health care delivery system has led to improved child health and a sharp decline in national infant mortality rates. According to the April Child Welfare White Paper, the infant mortality rate has decreased to 37.79 per 1,000 from approximately 200 per 1,000 in the early 1950's. There were credible reports of female infanticide and the use of ultrasound tests to terminate pregnancies of female fetuses, but no reliable statistics were available to demonstrate the extent of the problem. The Chinese press has reported in the past that the national ratio of male to female births is 1 14 to I 00, while the worldwide statistical norm is 106 to I 00 (see Section I.f ).
Physical abuse of children can be grounds for criminal prosecution. 'Me 1992 Law on the Protection of Juveniles forbids infanticide, as well as mistreatment or abandonment of children. This law also prohibits discrimination against disabled minors, emphasizes the importance of safety and morality, and codifies a variety of judicial protections for juvenile offenders. In January the press reported that a couple 'in Dongguan was fined the equivalent of a month's wages for abandoning their newborn son at a hospital; the child was born with a deformed liver, kidneys, and intestines.
Despite government efforts to prevent the kidnapping and buying and selling of children, the problem persists in some rural areas. In March 1995, authorities 'in Guangxi province reported that, as a result of three campaigns 'in the past 2 years against trading of children and women, police arrested 3,886 criminals, smashed 595 criminal gangs, and released 134 children and 2,861 women. In December 1995, the press reported that six boys, some of whom were taken from their parents soon after birth, were returned from central Henan province to their original families 'in neighboring Sichuan province (see also section on Women above).
According to a 1994 Beijing University demographics study, the number of children abandoned in China each year is approximately 1.7 million, despite the fact that under the law child abandonment is punishable by fines and a 5-year prison term. The vast majority of those eventually admitted to Chinese orphanages every year are female or disabled and are in poor health. The treatment of children at orphanages varies from deplorable to adequate. There have been reports of children being restrained for long periods of time and being denied basic care and feeding. Differences among available statistics make accurate determination of infant mortality rates in orphanages difficult, but rates appear to be very high at many orphanages, especially among new arrivals. Human Rights Watch cites Ministry of Civil Affairs statistics for 1989-90 that put infant mortality 'in orphanages in IO provinces at over 50 percent.
According to several sources, orphanage workers practice triage and reserve basic medical care and even nutrition for children who are deemed to have the best chances for survival. Some sources report that children whose prospects of survival are determined to be poor are placed in rooms separate from other children and subjected to extreme neglect. Claims that government policies, as opposed to lack of resources, were to blame for the lack of care of children placed in orphanages could not be verified a'. Human Rights Watch reported 'in January, however, that many orphanages, 'including those with the highest death rates, have budgets that provide for adequate wages, bonuses, and other personnel-related costs, but that budgets for children's food, clothing, and other necessities are low in institutions throughout the country. The Government denies that orphans are mistreated or refused medical care but acknowledges that the orphanage system is hard pressed to provide for those children who are admitted
with serious medical problems.
People with Disabilities
In 1990 the Government adopted legislation protecting the rights of the country's approximately 60 million disabled persons. According to the official press, all local governments subsequently drafted specific measures to implement the law. The Government reported in July that, 'in the 3 preceding years, the NPC Standing Committee conducted nationwide inspections to verify compliance with the law; it "found that the handicapped generally received good services and help 'in both their dealings with officials and in public life."
However, reality for the disabled lags far behind legal dictates. Misdiagnosis,
inadequate medical care, pariah status, and abandonment remain common problems for the disabled population. Moreover, statistics compiled in 1993 and published in the official press as recently as March show that approximately 50 percent of the disabled lack adequate food and clothing. The same figures show that 68 percent of the disabled are illiterate; 67 percent require family support; 49 percent are unemployed; only 6 percent of blind and deaf children enter school; and only 0.33 percent of mentally retarded children enter school.
Deng Pufang, son of retired senior leader Deng Xiaoping, heads the China Welfare Fund for the Handicapped, the government organization tasked with assisting the disabled. In July the official press reported that the State Council had completed the outline of a government program for the disabled. The program, which is a part of the Government's ninth 5-year plan for 1996-2000, is designed to solve food and clothing problems for the 15 million disabled persons able to work, and to guarantee the basic needs of 3 million disabled 'individuals believed to be living in extreme poverty. The program also confirms goals previously established to provide rehabilitation services to 3 million people, raise school enrollment rates for disabled persons to 80 percent, and increase their employment rate to 80 percent. The Government requires all state enterprises to hire a certain number of disabled workers, but authorities estimate that nearly half of all disabled persons are jobless.
Standards adopted in 1994 for making roads and buildings accessible to the disabled are subject to the 1990 Law on the Handicapped, which calls for their "gradual" implementation. To date lax compliance with the law has resulted in only limited access to most buildings.
The new Maternal and Child Health Care Law forbids the marriage of persons with certain specified contagious diseases or certain acute mental illnesses such as schizophrenia. If doctors find that a couple is at risk of transmitting disabling congenital defects to their children, the couple may many only if they agree to use birth control or undergo sterilization. This law mandates premarital and prenatal examination for genetic or contagious diseases, but it specifies that medically advised abortion or sterilization requires the signed consent of the patients or their guardians.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities
The State Statistical Bureau reported 'in February that, according to an October 1, 1995, census, the total population of China's 55 ethnic minorities was 108.46 million, or 8.98 percent of the national population. Most minority groups reside in areas they have traditionally inhabited, many of which are mountainous or remote. China's policy on minorities calls for preferential treatment in marriage regulations, family planning, university admission, and employment. The Government has programs to provide low interest loans, subsidies, and special development funds for minority areas.
Government development policies have helped improve minority living standards in recent years. According to government statistics, between 1991 and 1995 the economies in minority regions grew by I I percent annually. However, incomes for members of minorities in minority areas remain well below the national average. Development programs have disrupted traditional living patterns of minority groups, including Tibetans and the Muslim Uighur majority of western Xinjiang. Recent plans to develop tourism 'in Xinjiang have often, for example, focused on marketing and investment opportunities but paid little attention to how minority cultures and the environment might be adversely affected. However, some projects have been dropped for environmental reasons, for example, a proposal to build a railroad track around Lake Tianchi near Urumqi.
In the area of education, the Government has tried to design policies responsive to minority concerns. According to government statistics, 15.34 million minority students have attended schools since 1994. In many areas with a significant population of minorities, there are two-track school systems using either standard Chinese or the local minority language. Students can choose to attend schools in either system. One acknowledged side effect of this policy designed to protect and maintain minority cultures has been reinforcement of a segregated education system. Under this divided education system, those graduating from minority schools are at a disadvantage 'in competing for jobs in government and business, which require good spoken Chinese. These graduates must take Chinese-language 'instruction before attending universities and colleges (see also Tibet addendum).
The Communist Party has an avowed policy of boosting minority representation 'in the Government and the party. In March the official press reported that there were 2.4 million minority cadres. Many members of minorities occupy local leadership slots, and a few have positions of influence at the national level. However, 'in most areas,- ethnic minorities are shut out of positions of real political and decisionmaking power. Minorities often resent Han officials holding key positions in minority autonomous regions. Ethnic minorities in Tibet, Xinjiang, and elsewhere have at times demonstrated 91
against Han Chinese authority.
In 1996 tensions between ethnic Hans and Uighurs in Xinjiang intensified, and incidents of violence occurred. According to some estimates, the migration of ethnic Han into the area in recent decades has caused the Han-Uighur ratio in Urwnqi to shift from 20:80 to 80:20 and has created Uighur resentment. Chinese officials' control of the region's political and economic institutions has also been a factor in the growth of tension.
Although Chinese policies have brought tangible econorm'c improvements, Uighurs maintain that they receive only a small share of the benefits. Authorities have maintained tight control over separatist activities. Possession of separatist publications is not permitted, and according to reports, possession of such materials has resulted in lengthy prison sentences. In general, central authorities have made it clear that they will not tolerate opposition to Communist Party rule 'in minority regions and have responded to unrest with force and heightened security measures.
