The Religious Consultation
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United Press International , June, 2005 Misinformation Campaign Continues Against UNFPA Associated Press reported June 22 that the United States urged UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, to end its family planning program in China until Beijing stops using coercion, forced abortions, and punishment to enforce its one-child policy. The agency has repeatedly rejected allegations it is complicit in that policy. Kelly Ryan, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, told UNFPA's executive board that its continued activity in China "gives it a U.N. 'seal of approval"' that is very important to Beijing and that it doesn't deserve. She argued that China's policies violate the 1994 U.N. population conference consensus reached in Cairo, which says parents have the right to decide the size and spacing of their families. China's deputy U.N. ambassador Zhang Yishan countered that without its population policy over the last 30 years, China would now have 300 million additional people, "which equals the entire U.S. population." Zhang said family planning workers are told they "shall adopt no coercive measures in whatever form."
China's 26-year cooperation with UNFPA, he said, has taught the country "advanced international concepts on population and development and management methods." In the 32 counties of UNFPA’s pilot programs, maternal mortality dropped significantly and AIDS awareness increased, he said. Read: Associated Press (picked up by Newsday, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, San Jose Mercury News, Los Angeles Times, and Boston Globe, among other outlets) The [Minneapolis] Star Tribune (U.S.) ran a June 27 editorial that noted: “For as long as he's occupied the White House, President Bush has been denying U.S. funding to the U.N. Population Fund, an agency which is generally thought to have averted more abortions, assured more safe births and saved the lives of more mothers and infants than any other entity on Earth. By denying it U.S. funding, Bush is fueling the very fire he wants to extinguish: abortion.” The editorial concluded: “Bush nevertheless remains resolved to withhold this year's $34 million contribution to the UNFPA. Earlier this month, the House of Representatives rejected a measure that would have required the money's transfer. The Senate, which has yet to consider the matter, may very well manage a word of protest against this counterproductive parsimony. But the protest won't stop abortion or save lives.”
U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), responded in a June 28 letter to Newsday (U.S.) defending UNFPA that said: “The Bush administration is being disingenuous when it claims that China's one-child policy depends on the working presence of the United Nations Population Fund for a ‘seal of approval’. On the contrary, the fund is the only voice in China arguing against the one-child birth limitation policy and its coercive aspects. The United States is notable for its absence in making any effort to change the situation. Which is better, vocal and direct engagement for policy change or turning one's back in silence?” Maloney concluded: “The cutoff of U.S. funds to the fund does nothing to punish the Chinese government. It hurts only Chinese women and women in the 140 other countries worldwide where the agency operates.” |