On September 25, 1980, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (“CCP”) took an unprecedented step in drafting an open letter to party members urging support for the “One-Child Policy” initialized by former CCP leader Deng Xiaoping (1904-1997).  The policy became controversial and set into motion a series of events that threaten the long-term stability of the nation known as the “Red Dragon”. Author Mei Fong is a former reporter for the China bureau of the Wall Street Journal and lived in the country for a significant period. This book is an examination of the one child policy and the dark reality of life in China. 

Radical policies are not alien to China. In fact, the nation had already experienced the “Great Leap Forward” instituted by Mao Zedong (1893-1976) in 1958. However, the One-Child Policy was different, and it had devastating effects on multiple levels. The grim reality is revealed in this book that peels back the layers on what took place as the CCP made good on its word. I warn readers that some sections of the book are difficult, in particular discussions about pregnancy terminations. And though there are no brutally graphic descriptions of aggression, the weight of the situations can be felt. Such scenes are unimaginable in the West but in China under the one-child policy, procreation came with staggering risk. The chances of being caught did not deter all couples, and babies were born. But the preference for male babies, coupled with the one-child policy, opened the door for a system dysfunction the author highlights throughout the book. The policy may be obsolete, but the damage it did continues. 

As I read the book, I could only shake my head at the unwelcomed changes in Chinese society. A surplus of bachelors, an aging population, and lack of new births has placed China in a tough position. Currently, the alarm bells have gone off within China that it needs more people. The problem for the CCP is that you cannot undue decades of dangerous policy overnight, and that is a central theme in the book as we learn of the horror stories from the Chinese men and women brave enough to talk to Fong. Their experiences are surreal but sadly normal under the restrictive policy. However, the book contains far more than just a battle over having multiple children. In fact, there are other areas she explores which are mind boggling. 

Readers who have lived in China or are deeply familiar with Chinese society will know and understand what Fong discusses. But for others who are unaware of the dark side to the CCP’s rule, there is a wealth of information to process. Fong takes us inside the international adoption market, supported by the CCP, private lives of men who paid for wives only to see them flee during the night, and the sex doll industry, flourishing as the result of an imbalance between genders. These parts of the book are dark, but necessary in understanding how a misguided policy has damaged those it was designed to protect. The book also focuses on the growing problem of China’s aging population and what it means for the future. 

In the middle of these issue is Fong’s own story as a wife going through the maternity process in China, providing her with a first-hand view of what expectant mothers confront as they carry a child. She eventually leaves China but is sure to open the reader’s eyes to the surrogate market, which thrives in the book. There is also a disturbing section about the possibility of genetic manipulation that will make the hair on your neck stand up.  The author pulls no punches here and lays it all out for the reader to absorb. China will eventually recover at some point, but the past is always prologue. For China, things may become very dark before the light returns. Until then, the policies of CCP leaders will continue to haunt the People’s Republic of China. And this book is crucial in understanding how and why. 

ASIN :‎ B00QPHNV4E