This paper examines how selected Western media reported on the new three-child policy announced on Xinhua News on 31 May 2021. The Chinese Communist Party's decision was based on demographic results, which reveal the serious consequences of the one-child restriction, such as the rapid ageing of the population, an uneven gender distribution, and the declining number of new births. A qualitative analysis was carried out based on ten articles from online news media from four Western countries: the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Slovenia. The presentation of the Chinese narrative is based on two Chinese sources: Xinhua and the Global Times. The findings of the research reveal that Western articles show some bias when reporting on the topic. Although they focus on birth statistics, which show a drastic decline in births and a rapidly ageing population, nine out of ten articles present only negative opinions expressed by Chinese experts and the public. In general, there is a strong critical approach in Western reporting on China's family planning policy, aimed above all at the long-standing restrictive one-child policy, the situation of single mothers and China's capitalist objectives. Nine out of the ten articles do not mention the positive changes that this law is supposed to bring to the Chinese population. The Slovenian media report much less on China compared to other selected countries. On the other hand, the Chinese media, in addition to statistical trends and diverse opinions of experts and the public, also reported on the supportive measures of this policy, which relate to the abolition of fines, better workplace conditions for mothers, financial support for parents, and improvements in the infrastructure for the care of children and the elderly.
|
