He also questions the executions altogether. The government uses executions as a way to intimidate, Wu said. According to an Amnesty International Report, the Chinese government executed 4,367 people in 1996. The government also attempts to control its citizenry through its birth-control policies, Wu said. The government says that such a policy is necessary because of limited resources.
Nobody can deprive the individual rights of birth.
If a woman gets pregnant before age 20, she is forced to have an abortion and to become sterile, Wu said. If a woman s first child is a boy, she must become sterile, he said. If a woman s first child is a girl, she must wait four years to have a second baby. If the government finds out that she got pregnant before the grace period ended, she would be forced to abort even if she were nine months pregnant, Wu said. The government also would impose other punishments, such as firing the mother from her job, reducing her salary and even destroying her house, he added.