Page 16 - IAV Digital Magazine #483

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
New China Law Says Children ‘Must Visit Parents'
By Celia Hatton
Grown children in China must visit their parents or potentially face fines or jail, a new law that came into effect on Monday says.
China's new "Elderly Rights Law" deals with the growing prob- lem of lonely eld- erly people by ordering adult children to visit their ageing par- ents.
The law says adults should care about their parents "spiritual
needs" and "never neglect or snub elderly peo- ple".
The regulation has been ridiculed by tens of thousands of Chinese web users.
Many across China are ques- tioning how the law could be enforced, since it fails to spell out a detailed schedule dictating the fre- quency with which children should make parental house calls.
"Those who live far away from parents should go home often," it says.
However, that does not mean the law is tooth- less.
Instead, it serves as an "education- al message" to the public, while also serving as a starting point for law suits, explained Zhang Yan Feng, a lawyer with Beijing's King & Capital Law Firm.
"It's hard to put this law into prac-
tice, but not impossible," Mr Zhang explained.
"If a case is brought to court on the basis of this law, I think it'll probably end up in a peaceful settlement. But if no settlement is reached, techni- cally speaking, court rulings can force the person to visit home cer- tain times a month."
"If this person disobeys court rulings, he could be fined or detained."
But few in China seem to fear they will end up behind bars if they fail to log visits home.
"Who doesn't want to visit home often? What is consid- ered "often"? Who will oversee the process?" complained one poster on weibo, China's version of Twitter.
"We all know to
cherish our elder- ly parents, but sometimes we are just too busy trying to make a living and the pressure is too much."
"It's fine that no- one is paying for us to visit our parents, but is there someone who can give us time off to do it?" asked another.
The question of how to deal with ageing parents is a mounting prob- lem in China.
According to Chinese govern- ment statistics, more than 178 million people in China were 60 years or older in 2010. By 2030, that figure will double.
As China's popu- lation goes grey, the Chinese media fills with stories of neglect- ed old people.
Many were shocked by the story of a 91- year-old grand-
mother who was beaten and forced out of her home in China's southern Jiangsu province after she asked her daughter-in-law for a bowl of rice porridge.
Two days later, internet forums were filled with a similar story of farmers in the same province who allowed their family's 100-year- old matriarch to sleep in a pig sty, sharing close quarters with a pungent pig.
But those stories have not lead most people to support the new Elderly Rights Law.
"Family bonds should be based on spontaneous emotions," argued one weibo user.
"It's funny to make it part of a law; it's like requiring couples to have a harmo- nious sex life after marriage."
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine