The end of China’s one-child policy, 10 years laterOne woman’s decisions might have strangled China’s birth rates permanentlyBy Yi FuxianJan. 1 marks a decade since China repealed its one-child policy. Illustration: Kevin SheuAfter the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, Song, who had by then been promoted to State Councilor, convinced China’s newly appointed president, Jiang Zemin (江澤民), to strengthen the one-child policy. For example, though the 2000 census showed a fertility rate of only 1.22, the figure was revised upward to 1.8. When observers credit Peng as a reformer, they typically refer to the proposal on loosening the one-child policy that she submitted in 2004 on behalf of official demographers. Yi Fuxian (易富賢), a senior scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, spearheaded the movement against China’s one-child policy.

Source: Taipei Times January 10, 2026 16:10 UTC