Where next for China?: Rose tinted spectacles do not help

doi:10.1136/bmj.333.7566.500-a

BMJ 2006;333:500 (2 September), doi:10.1136/bmj.333.7566.500-a

Letter

Where next for China?

Rose tinted spectacles do not help

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Potts overplays the benefits of China's one childpolicy and greatly underplays its drawbacks (late abortion,infanticide, and gross interference of an unelected governmentin the affairs of private citizens).¹ At one point he said thata falling birth rate offers a demographic dividend, as the economicallyproductive proportion of the population grows more rapidly thanthe general population. As a doctor and an epidemiological simpleton,I would like this point to have been explained more thoroughly,especially as it seems to conflict with his later point thatwhen birth rates fall rapidly, during their most productiveyears the younger generation needs to support a high ratio ofold people.

When Potts came closest to acknowledging the political controversythat surrounds the one child policy, he couldn't resist a bitof Bush bashing. Why is the US government described as the "Bushadministration," whereas its Chinese counterpart is . . . [Full text of this article]

Vaughan P Smith, general practitioner

Taunton TA2 7SZ VSmith1951@aol.com