Vice President Joe Biden is a walking, talking gaffe. Most of the time when he has a blunder or says something inappropriate, it’s kinda funny.
This one . . . not so much.
In the middle of his response to a question about the recent downgrade of the US bond rating, Biden said (as reported by the UK Telegraph‘s Toby Harnden):
[A]s I was talking to some of your leaders, you share a similar concern here in China. You have no safety net. Your policy has been one which I fully understand — I’m not second-guessing — of one child per family. The result being that you’re in a position where one wage earner will be taking care of four retired people. Not sustainable.
The “one child” policy is a brutal population control policy enforced by the Chinese government since 1978. The official rule is that families are only permitted to have one child; those who fail to abide by the state’s rules are subject to fines and harsh penalties, forced abortion (even as late as 9 months), and involuntary sterilization.
Another consequence of the “one-child policy” is that baby girls are more likely to be aborted due to the Chinese culture’s preference for male heirs over females. Not only is China facing the problematic ratio of 1 wage earner for every 4 retirees, it also has a gender imbalance: for every 100 girls born, there are 120 boys.
I doubt that Biden “fully understands” the one child policy; nevertheless, his comments serve to tacitly condone the Chinese government’s vile practice.
At the very least, he should have kept his mouth shut–advice that is no doubt familiar to (but never heeded by) our foolish Vice President.