Originally Posted by
Ren Wo Xing
These are two totally separate issues; the first (forced abortions) has some actual basis behind it, but the second (fetal cannibalism) is an urban myth.
Forced abortions:
There have been credible, documented cases of forced abortions, yes. These cases of forced abortions are relatively rare, primarily in rural areas, and extremely illegal.
The entire issue comes from China's "One Child Policy", which dictates families are only allowed to have a single child. This policy springs from a (successful) attempt to control China's problem over-population; it dictates that each family is only allowed to have a single child, and levies very heavy fines against families that have more. This has caused a number of problems, such as gender imbalances due to the traditional preference for a male child, and others. In recent years, the policy has been relaxed to allow families in rural areas to have 2 children (if the first was a girl), and ethnic minorities are exempt from this policy.
The policy holds local government officials responsible for implementing the policy, and their success in do so has historically been one of several yardsticks by which they are considered for promotion. According to Chinese law, government officials are only allowed to levy fines against families who break this law, and/or implement civil punishment such as taking away their jobs (if they have government jobs, etc.). However, there have been many credible, documented cases of rural officials forcing women on their second pregnancies to have abortions and/or undergo sterilization, in order to keep their 'success rate' in implementing the "One Child Policy" high and thereby improve their chances at promotion. This is against both Chinese law and national policy, and the central government has repeatedly issued edicts proclaiming that doing so is very illegal. However, in many rural areas, the rule of law is relatively weak, and there is insufficient oversight over the actions of rural officials.
Although it still exists, this problem has improved significantly in recent years, because of a combination of factors, such as the central government has been relaxing various aspects of the "One Child Policy", the increasingly bad press and widespread popular anger at these stories when posted on the internet, and other factors.
So, to recap: Yes, there have been forced abortions in China, but it is definitely illegal, not the norm, and primarily in rural areas where the rule of law is not strong. Levying fines is much, much more common.
Eating fetuses:
This is an urban rumor which partially springs from the reputation of how Chinese people (especially in Guangdong province) eat everything: As the saying goes, 'Everything which flies in the sky, crawls on the ground, or swims in the sea.'
There have been internet rumors of this even in China, and these rumors have uniformly been met with absolute horror. The origin of the most widely spread images of a "Chinese man eating fetuses" springs from a series of photographs taken in 2000 by Shanghai artist Zhu Yu; he claims that he illegally stole the fetus from a medical school, and photographed himself 'eating' it as part of a "performance art" exhibition he submitted as a shock-entry to a Shanghainese art festival (his entry was rejected). It is highly unlikely that he stole and actually ate a fetus, however, as both the theft and cannibalism are crimes which would send him in prison for a lengthy period of time.
His pictures were spread very widely, and reappear time and time again; they have been used in a Malaysian newspaper article claiming that it was a depiction of people in Taiwan eating babies for "$50-$70", and in articles claiming that it was a 'health supplement' in China easily purchased from abortion clinics, etc.
To date, there have been no credibly documented cases of human fetal cannibalism in China, and it definitely is something which would horrify every single Chinese person I've ever spoken to.