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Commentary: Making enforcement of China's birth control policy fair (2) |
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18:51, July 13, 2007 |
An investigation there found 1,900 celebrities, business people and government officials had used their privilege or wealth to flout the one-child regulations.
According to the practice in Hunan, the fines be set according to a couple''s annual earnings. But the real incomes of private entrepreneurs are often murky and even when reliable information is obtained, fines can be difficult to collect.
The birth control department of Lianyuan city, in Hunan Province, fined a coal mine owner 1.36 million yuan (179,000-U.S. dollars), the province''s highest ever fine. But the businessman just refused to turn up to pay the fine and it seemed little could be done to make him.
Any law should be applied across the board, regardless of wealth, privilege or authority.
Family planning authorities who are responsible for enforcing the birth control policy must be encouraged to work with other government agencies that have experience and authority in law enforcement.
When the income of a couple is unknown or hidden, government auditors should be allowed in to thoroughly examine their assets and earnings. Fines cannot be dished out on guesswork or the basis of self-declarations by the lawbreakers.
Revenue departments might also appreciate this scrutiny as tax avoidance and breaking the one-child law are too often bundled into the same category of "victimless crimes" when, in fact, their repercussions are felt by the whole of society.
[1] [2] [3]
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