About Time.

So now they will all go by the last name "SMITH".

gtouch <<<>>> Actually, "Smith," though usually in the local language, IS the most common surname on Earth.

I wouldn't start getting all starry eyed about the "common sense " policies of China. It is still a country where female children are routinely left to die for no other reason than they were born female. These orphanages are mostly all female, except for the males who were born with some kind of physical or mental defect. Make no mistake, China has a long way to go to be enlightened.

Matilda Tuscany, It is not even close to the most common name last name on Earth, even if you reach and try to translate it into other languages. Try Wang, which occurs approximately 30 times more frequently if you just take Smith and Wang, and no translations. Wang also has its translated forms throughout the Asian languages. Just in China alone, you have almost 93 million Wangs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_common_surnames_in_Asia#China

Robin1950 : You're behind on your knowledge of China. Families cheer when a girl is born; why? because the groom's family is responsible for purchasing a house for the newlywed couple. Having a girl takes a huge financial burden off the girls parents. When a boy is born, the parents immediately start getting headaches, trying to figure out how to save enough money to purchase a home for him and his wife someday. I've spent a lot of time in rural China, so I know what I am posting is correct. The postings about girl babies being murdered, just because they are girls is pure USA political brainwashing.

@Zheng He, They are obviously not all cheering or else the situation as occurs in China would not be happening. China is a large country with many ethnic and religious groups. They don't all have the same attitudes about children or the customs of raising and providing for them, or the financial means to provide homes. Spending time in rural China hardly makes you an expert. Girls have and are abandoned or left to die because of their sex. That is a fact. How common an occurence, who knows? Still, it continues to happen. Headaches or not, Chinese families overwhelmingly want males. Haven't been brainwashed, thank you.

@ Zheng He just because you chose the name of a famous Qing Dynasty eunuch admiral clearly does not make you an authority on Chinese custom. Though I do not profess to be that expert either, I do chat with many Chinese people, most of who are women. I talk to many of them on a daily basis. And make no mistake that if a family is poor they will abort female children. The Chinese government places a heavy fine for giving birth to a female child (after the max allowed of 2). If your first child is male you WILL be fined for all additional children. if your first child is female you may try one more time, if you have a second female ALL addition children will bring you a very heavy fine. So, most people kill the second child (if it is female) as to aviod the fine.

also a pregnant woman is NOT permitted to leave the country. I know one woman who aborted a male child so she could go to England with her husband.

While it is also true that in rural areas that enforcement of this law is much more lax, in cities is it strictly enforced.

It is also a fact that many women are dying do to having too man abortions, medical information is that suppressed by the abortion industrial complex in this country. Excessive abortions will cause illness even death.

I have been to China many times and I have seen many Chinese girls all over the cities. Its hard for me to believe that females are not wanted. Also, you hear a lot about the one child policy in China, but I know many families with four, five or six kids in the family. My Chinese wife has four sisters and one brother. Go figure.

Mitzy- Many pregnant Chinese women are coming to California to have their babies in the USA. They want their kids to have US citizenship. (google it) Where did you get your information about pregnant women not being permitted to leave China?

OMG How in H*ll do people think they have any idea of what goes on in China. Its a dictatorship, no free press, no free speach. Do you people really think that when a dictatorship says everything is great, that is tghe truth? Its no wonder our country is sinking into a dictatorship itself. I remember the leftie commie lovers always defending the USSR as well. How everyone in that country was well cared for and happy. The elitist liberal communist lovers have been chirping this cr*p for 50 years. The Michael Moore types who really want to convince you Cuba is a better place to live than the USA. North Korea is the greatest country in the world, just ask their government. Nobody ever complains there, and lives that is. After China put out their the party is good propaganda story, they could have thrown every one of those children into a furnace. They certainly can, and truth is whatever they say it is. I absolutely expect any media or persons from outside of China to see exactly what they wish you to see. It scares me to see how willingly Americans are to love big brother. We the people sold out. Nothing the government does, is worth as much as it takes. Its just sad. Millions of lives lost for freedom, then it is given away by their descendants because they are too lazy to do for themselves. Just sad.

dang ...that adds a whole new meaning to...dang...

Zheng He - I don't know what part of China you live in or visited, but I lived in Asia for 9 years. There were constantly articles in The South China Morning Post of female newborn babies washing up on the shores of Hong Kong or being thrown out in the trash. It is my understanding of the culture that the males stay at home with their families and bring a wife to help take care of the home and the elderly parents. This makes the parents want to have boys. If you have a girl, she is not around to take care of her elderly parents as she goes to live with her husband and take care of his family. I know many, many Chinese families as I lived in Hong Kong and Singapore for 9 years... according to what I have read in Chinese newspapers and have heard from the Chinese I know, this is how it is.

Living in Hong Kong, which is a Special Administrative Region of China, we received news out of China on a daily basis. Even the Hong Kong Chinese did not trust the communists in mainland China. You cannot believe hardly anything coming out of China.

Misty-3967222 : Joe-402558 is correct. Your friend aborted her child to travel to England through ignorance or just did not want the child. My friend took his wife to USA when she was 8 1/2 months pregnant. Here is the law; at first she was denied the flight because the plane would land again within China, before flying to USA. The airline changed her flight so she would leave China, land in Japan, and then to USA. It is a strange law, but, yes, pregnant women can leave China on flights if the do it by the aviation laws of China.

China banning the names is not the story. The story is the people of China would brand others with such a stigma.

@Mitzy your information about pregnant women in China is completely bogus. In fact, so many women in China leave to give birth in Hong Kong that it's hard for Hong Kong citizens to get a bed in a hospital to give birth even if they reserve it months in advance.

@Cassie,

This was the practice of the Catholic Church since the early Middle Ages. Names like "Esposito" (meaning "left outside") marked an infant abandoned outside an orphanage, convent or church. Remember Sammy Esposito? "Cavavaca" means "empty head." It was given to the children of mentally deficient women. The English went straight for "Bastard" as a surname. "Bastardo" was also popular in Spain and Italy. "Fitz" was how the Irish and Scots did it. "Fitzgerald" would have been a bastard child of the Gerald family. The Spanish and Italians where a double surname was the rule often repeated the mother's surname. In Czarist Russia, surnames of the illegitimate were often truncated. For example, the surname Pnin, today most associated with Vladimir Nabokov's novel, was borne by the illegitimate poet Ivan Petrovich Pnin and was an abbreviated version of the surname of his father the statesman Nikolai Vasilyevich Repnin.

If you look at things in a larger context, either China is far less creepy ---- or the whole world is a lot creepier.

I feel the same way about Florida.

China is an amazing place! Such a closed minded comment, did you make it past third grade?

I love that country. It's the government I'm afraid of!

No it is not "creepy" In fact it is unfortunate that every American can't travel there to understand what truly poor is. That country has changed so much in the last 20 years that even the chinese find it amazing.

Chris- How fascinating. Thanks. I love finding out these little bits of knowledge that one might otherwise never run across. :)

Well I guess it could be worse. I have a friend who's family came from a culture that like to name children after the first thing the father saw after their birth. Her name was Two Deer @!$%#ing.....

.

badum da....

Why would Americans travel to China to find out what poor really is? Haiti is much closer.

@Robin1950

You really have no idea of what your talking about and I wish folks like you would either shut up or actually do the research before posting your uneducated replies. Female children are NOT left to die. They are left in areas a mother knows is well populated and which she knows her child will be found. Like train stations, Police department stairs, apartment buildings. They are not left in dumpsters like spoiled female american teenagers who then return to their prom. They are not aborted like the murdering mothers of america. Who am I? I am father who has adopted twice from China and gearing up for a third child adoption. I have spent long periods of time in China and have researched their orphan issue extensively. I have spoken with Chinese mothers and fathers. I know the heartbreak of a mother who abandons her baby daughter because her husband wants a boy. Your callous, merciless, irresponsible response nullifies the poor mothers of China who feel they have no choice but to abandon their baby girl. If you think that is easy, you truly are a merciless human being. Before you open your mouth, know much about the subject you are speaking about or simply keep your mouth shut.

In fact it is unfortunate that every American can't travel there to understand what truly poor is.

I've been to numerous Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong. I have usually felt like America is the poor place in comparison.

Very true, under Mao starvation is the sutiation of the day in China, after Dong Xiaoping's reforms with in 10 years starvation was almost wiped out.

China as many problems, but it is one of the best lessons in the FAILURE of socialism and something every American should think about before re-electing a socialist president. China's government controlled reproduction is exactly what Obama wants to have in this country.

Yes starvation has been wiped out. so has illness, poverty, crime, and anything that causes any type of unhapiness. Just ask the dictatorship, or anybody they wish for you to hear from. What do the people in the opposition party say? You know, the one that some students started at Tiananmen Square. Oh my bad, those students are spots on the pavement. Well not actually, all traces of those enemies of the state were removed. People who knew they would be killed, gave their lives to show the world that they are oppressed, that their government will kill them if they speak out of turn, that what we are shown isnt the truth. Because it is a place where foreigners and foreign media are allowed, it was a rare opportunity to get a glimpse of the real China. But I'm sure the orphan story is legit, because dang nabbit they care. With over 2 billion people, they never overlook something as important as their 100,000 orphans. Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Hapiness. Thats what they are all about. Im so glad the good and moral party saved those orphans from the cruelty of the individual, who is only prone to do evil if left to make decisions on their own. I've yet to meet anybody named Unwanted Bastard in the USA. You know democracy isnt perfect. It does however allow for growth and improvement. Free people will always out perform enslaved people. Maybe people will realize that is why our nation is struggling right now. Free us from the limitations and restrictions of the government, and we can prosper again.

Chris -

This was the practice of the Catholic Church since the early Middle Ages. Names like "Esposito" (meaning "left outside") marked an infant abandoned outside an orphanage, convent or church.

Very interesting post. Thanks for sharing.

eric -

Those students got out of there when uneducated/unskilled/undisciplined migrant workers hijacked the demonstration. Well, the smart students anyways.

In the US (circa 1920 and 1930) many states actually put orphans in Mental Institutions when they had no other place to put them. Politicians were living "high off the hog" on money that should have been used to provide either orphanages or foster homes for these kids.

Keep in mind in a nation (China) where people are abducting children to sell to those who can't have them - State Operated Orphanages were (at one point) found to be starving unruly kids to death.

And - many would wonder why there are any kids in Chinese Orphanages in a nation where childless parents are in such a desperate search of stolen children to buy.

Yeah, I don't think State care anywhere for any reason is good for children. However, if there are no decent parents for the kids...there should be a decent place for kids to go. I was in orphanages, foster homes as a kid (I had an abusive mother)....of course all the State cares about is its money, not the welfare of the child...they will find any way to label the child a problem child so they can just return it to its abusive parent(s). If you ever wonder why some of these teenagers kill their parents....wonder no longer...it is their only way out if they are years away from 18.

Brickwall2 Your information is twenty to thirty years out of date. First of all China is one of the few nations that is open and compliant with the Hague convention. Second of all China is a huge nation with many ethnic groups. Many areas are similar to the U.S. : large cities, well educated, good hospitals. Other areas are completely backward. No education, health care, not enough food . In these areas there are lots of superstitions: i.e. being an orphan denotes a lifetime of bad luck.

There are very few child abductions in China, most of the current abductions are from other unscrupulous Asian nations and the children are funneled into China. When the Chinese authorities discover such incidents ( there have only been a handful) these children are NOT adopted out and they do try to find their families.

Chinese orphanages are some of the best in the world--that doesn't mean they are perfect places to grow up. Far from it! However, Chinese children do get clothed, sheltered and basic medical care. They have exercises and outside-time each day. China has even begun to set up foster homes so children are raised in a home-like setting.

There are still huge problems to overcome; there are thousands and thousands of orphans. Since there is a one child policy ( two if your lucky) babies with simple issues such as cleft lips, club feet or a preemie face a real possibility of being abandoned. A parent that cannot afford any health care often feel their only option is to drop the baby off so that the police will find them. The parents do this hoping that the child will have a better life than the parent can provide. .

It is a complicated situation.

On the U.S side there are no longer orphans here. There are children in the U.S with severe physical, psychological issues that are in foster care that need adopting, but to find a healthy baby is very difficult and expensive. Usually if a teenager becomes pregnant and decides to turn to adoption she will pick a close family friend---adoption agencies in the U.S are becoming a thing of the past.

Of course it would be better if China provided health care to their poor, and provided birth control to the masses to cut down on children entering orphanages. However, right now the best thing for the thousands of relatively healthy children of China is to find a family--ideally inside of China--- but if not then there are lots of American parents whose arms and hearts are empty. Right now there are children that need parents and parents that need children.

Back on target---it is about time that China quit using last names on children that denoted they were orphans !

Twenty to thirty years out of date? Not according to news media reports coming out of China.

..

@Kallie,

Excellent post. I really get tired of hearing people tell lies about China for the sole reason that they are open-ended haters (xenophobes.)

I would take exception to your last paragraph, however. China is still having some problems with rural health care delivery, but it is slowly coming around. The Chinese health care system has been ranked above that of the US for a couple of decades now with rural health care also being a serious issue in this country as well. The low densities of rural populations inevitably mean than health care dollars are more effectively spend (or in our case profits made) where populations are more dense. It's a tough nut to crack. And the Chinese government had made numerous types of birth control and aborions universally free and easily available, even in rural settings and going back to the 1950's.

Very true, but if you point that out you will most assuredly be called "anti-American" and told to leave the country. So best to keep our mouths shut and let the 1% continue to spew their elitist filth. We are the same now as we were in the 1890s and it's not getting any better any time soon.

Judging by the length of the THIN leg(s) and arms, and the position of those limbs, I'd say that is an older child who is a victim of a cerebral palsy-like condition or other developmental malady :( Sad.

No, the great thing about the USA is you have the right to be wrong. In China speaking negatively about your nation, which is one and the same as the government will get you locked up. That is exactly the point. We are not only the greatest nation to ever exist, but we have the freedom to complain anyway. Democracy will never compare favorably to a dictatorship, because what you see in a democracy is real. The dictatorship projects an illusion. The USA cant compare to Commieland, where its always sunny, people never get murdered, children dont get sick, everyone has more than enough to eat, nobody thinks mean things or has any malice towards anybody. You get to ride unicorns and the clouds are made of cotton candy. The almighty ruler chosen by the peoples protector, the party, has God like powers to fix everything for everyone. The problem is reality. A goverment cannot take care of its people. Its too expensive, overwhelming, and inefficient to work. It also causes people to become complacent and unambitious. For example people blame our country or government for not fixing things they perceive as problems. The American spirit used to be, do something yourself or shut up. People took responsibility for their lives, and communities, rather than deffer those responsibilities to the government. You will always have people who offer the deal of giving them power, in return for whatever you want to hear. The problem is, as you give more and more power, eventually they are no longer accountable to you. Tell me, who is more kind? The party who says give me your money, ill sell you this cure all snake oil. Or the party who says, keep your money, their is no cure all anything. Its an imperfect world, you can do more for yourself, than a con man who convinces you he cares about you, and will fix things for you. I'd love to handle finances for all the liberals in this country. Seriously youll all be rich as soon as this investment takes off, really. But ill need you to send me more money so the investment doesnt collapse, but youll get it back i swear. Then i could ride in my limo, live the jet set lifestyle. Then I could snear at those insensitive rich conservatives, who actually use money they made for themselves, instead of from the broken promises made to the common people. But hey just hang in there, The 2 trillion spent by these bozos over the last 3 years, theyll get it to you. Just send them more, theyve almost got it going now. Any day now, theyre thinking of you, sipping champaign in the limos, you paid for.

Interesting theory, eric-3466023. I say that because of all the Tea-Party Conservatives who are hollering for not only an end to all the "evil" regulations -- but also for the GOVERNMENT to start "creating jobs".

As for the millions of dollars those Conservatives "made for themselves", well, I bet you didn't know that the majority of them were members of the "middle class" before betting elected -- and became Millionaires while in Office. Wonder what kind of insider trading they been doing...... And gosh, it sure must be nice to have your house payments, medical bills and travel expenses paid for the TAXPAYERS.

da doc - if only you knew where these first few steps towards paranoia will lead you ......

Brickwall2 are you my sister?

So, it's "political correctness" to treat people with respect? Wow, I wonder what JESUS would have to say about that?

What is wrong with an address having the name of a building? Very common in England and even Australia....in fact, it sounds kind of fancy to me!

It has to do with the norm for the area, Homesick Yank. If everyone has a street address except for those who are forced to rely on government housing, you're going to have a negative stigma if you don't have a street address.

If it werent for social entitlements those poor people wouldnt be trapped in an endless cycle of slavery to the welfare system. Funny thing is the elected representatives in those housing project areas are usually of the liberal persuasion. If what they do doesnt work, maybe its time to try something different. Detroit unioned their city into the ground, is it my fault. Uh no. Do I want to have what ive earned stolen from me, just because they were greedy and killed their city. Their are people who work their butts off for less than what people get for nothing in those projects. Pay some young woman to sit back and pop out babies with as many men as she can, but its ok theirs no stigma to that. We are a progressive society now, so nobody is better than anybody else, regardless of the choices they make. People forget. Its not We Are Equal. Its We Are Created Equal. The person who works their butt off to get A's in school, stays away from gangs, drugs, and sleeping around so they can get a scholarship and get a good job... That person is more equal than the one who chose not to. If it isnt that way, why should anybody bother with the effort. Truth is the liberals need to keep those people poor and dependent on them.

Hey eric-3466023, just wait until YOU have to go looking for a hand-out. We'll all just sit back and laugh at you when your Tea Party Conservative masters tell you NO.

Know what's between you and you having to live in the street? Your paycheck.

So, an ENTIRE country is emotionless and robotic. You sound like an idiot. Generalize much?

I am generalizing. By definition, it doesn't mean I think every single person in China is a robot, just a vast majority of them. Why don't you go do your homework little girl?

Baldman, seems like you've spent lot's of time in China. or are you guessing?

Of all the stupidities ever spewed on Newsvine, Baldman, yours is hands down the most moronic.

@ Zheng: I'm not guessing. My assertions are well-founded. The Chinese are rather dense emotionally, relative to everyone else. It's almost as if they're just robots, but I will grant that they possess some rudimentary human emotions.

@tag: I'm not sure where to begin with you. I suppose I could just call you an idiot in return and be done with it. Thanks for playing, now piss off.

They aren't dense emotionally. In some cultures, it is considered extremely rude and unseemly to display strong emotion. That doesn't mean people don't feel strongly, they just don't show it in the way you are accustomed.

Boy that sounds like a Star Trek Movie, not reality. China has had a long history of oppression, being emotional in that setting can be hazardous. Its just not a good idea to draw attention to yourself living under a brutal dictatorship. Thing is, most likely the story was thought up by the propaganda people in the party, and more likely than not has no real relevance whatsoever. My goodness people. The law in China is whatever they say it is at whatever time they say it is. Their is no due process. If a person in authority says you must name your kid dog sh*t, then thats his name. If you disobey he can damn near do whatever he wants to you. What are you gonna do, call the press? Get a lawyer? The people dont get to have weapons. Seriously, you can obey, beg for your life if he decides to torment you, then go about your day hoping to not be noticed again.

I was wrong. The Chinese do have emotions!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=-04lpNuwLCo

Except that India up until this year still named girls things such as "unwanted" and "ugly one"

China has accepted and adheres to the Hague convention. Though not completely ideal--China does allow their children to be adopted by foreigners so that their children can at least have a family to call their own.

India still does not allow international adoption. India still has no oversight and allows their children to die in horrible ghettos. I want India to join the 21st century and at least TRY to save every last one of their children, yes, even the girl ones!!!!!!!!

Geez Kallie, did not know India had that policy (a few get through, but rarely do I see a non-Indian with an Asian Indian child). That explains a lot. What a shame, the kids are so cute.

India changed that policy in Jan. 2011.

The thing is. You see everything as it is in India. Compared to never, never land, India sucks. You people would have loved Nazi Germany, have you ever seen news from the third reich? Everybody was happy, everybody was well taken care of by the state. Millions of Jews murdered without anybody knowing exactly what was going on. Now your talking about a much larger country, many more people, and a dictatorship that has complete power for generations now. Stating that China complies with anything is a f*ing joke. The UN is a joke. It is a political entity. Seriously, what the UN has total access to to the entire country and all their records. They will see what China chooses to show them. The US is the only nation who ever tries to get the UN to be relevant. Most of the nations of the world are piss ants power wise compared to China. So China says they are compliant, good enough for the UN. If China gives the UN the finger, nobody will say sh*t, as long as the US doesnt. China is a nuclear power, they are a major player in the world economy. No goverment gives two cents what China does to their own people. We dont even defend our own freedom, nobody cares about the Chinese people anymore. Does a fattened cow care if the cow next to it is led to the slaughter house. No, it just chews its cud.

That happens in the US all the time. You can't single out China for lacking a conscience. vancouversun.com/sports/called+swarming/5961831/story.html

That toddler that got out of her house and was hit, got aid from a lady out early cleaning. The video of her poor distraught parents made me cry, literally. The article at the time said something about people fearing to help, as the policy was basically if you are at the scene, you are in trouble until they sort it out. The people wanted a policy change.

Kids get hit all the time while people watch and do nothing? In the USA? Do you talk to Elvis, and visit other planets too.

Hehe bubba... Laughing in spite of myself

rotflmao

It is because the Chinese Government passed a law that you could only legally give birth to 2 children. They keep the boys to pass on their family names. The rest get tossed off at the Orphanages.

100,000 unadopted kids isn't that many.. And it's probably grossly understated. We have two million in care in the US.

There used to be millions in Chinese orphanages.. Then first intl and then domestic adoption took off. Most are adopted now, mostly by middle class parents in the cities.

Yes, it is difficult to adopt a child from China. It should not be so difficult. I did my part in helping out, I married a Chinese girl in Chengdu, China. I'm very happy with my wife and she's a great cook too.

Isnt it more likely that the number of orphaned children in China has gone way down, due to either orphaned children are being disposed of, or there are orphanages that are not admitted to the outside world. It is contrary to logic to think that the unwanted attention to the horrible conditions of Chinese orphanages resulted in a sudden miraculous almost ending of orphaned children. Just enough orphans to show the human rights groups who were making alot of noise how good things are. Compare the ratio to any country in the world, and China has at least 3 or 4 million missing orphans. Do you people understand their are more people in China, than in the entire western hemishpere? Of course according to China, they never ran over those few hundred students with tanks either.

Joe-402558 : I understand. I was in the White Swan hotel in Guangzhou , in the elevator, And some Americans with newly adopted babies asked me if I adopted a child, I said, not exactly, the one I'm taking home is 28 years old. I was shunned after that. At 58 years old at the time, I could not have cared less. Yes, they are excellent cooks. We have 2 pre-schoolers now.

Zheng He.. That's great! Yes, they are great cooks and more.

So they took the "c" out of your name? Is that what you are saying?

Is the phonetic pronunciation "Schi 'Thed"?

One child rule? Farmers and fishermen can have two children. City folks can have two if the first is a girl or the first has physical or mental problems.

India is the country that discriminates against girls. India has aborted 50 million girls since 2001, and that's just the ones known about. Now many Indian families purchase a girl from a poor family and she is shared with all the sons in the family; in other words she is the wife of all the sons.

Zheng He is your Momma Indian? How many Uncle Daddies you got?

i don't think so.. chinese government "officials" take very good care of their orphans...

wink, wink...nudge, nudge....

kinda brings to mind an ancient movie..."soylent green"...

u'all oughta watch it...