Pacific Spirit Marine Institute
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
When celebrities and government officials are caught breaking the law in China’s Hunan province it’s handled quite differently than when they are caught breaking the laws in the US, or maybe not…
Officials belonging to the Communist Party of China won’t be getting that promotion they’ve had their eye on if it turns out they have broken the national family planning law which allows a family to only have 1 child.
In the US it feels like every Official belonging to the ‘Party in Power, or just the Party in Crowd’ receives some sort of pardon, commute or reduced sentance.
In the Hunan province the current regulation calls for a fine of double their last years income for having a second baby. Triple that for every extra baby after that. It feels like fines that large would put the brakes on having more than 1 child, but if your income is high enough to raise multiple children, then a 1 time fine may not seem like much. After all would Britney Spears care what a 2nd baby might cost? Especially based on her last years income, did she work last year?
I’m not sure how the ’cause celeb’ works in China, but I’m willing to go out on a limb and guess that the human experience in many ways is going to be the same regardless of geography. After reading in addition to the nearly 2,000 celebs and officials in Hunan, it was also discovered at least 21 national and local lawmakers, 24 political advisers, 112 business owners and 6 senior intellectuals had broken the law.
Quelle suprise, eh? I’m shocked that the very people that make the laws would break the laws. 1 lawmaker at the national level was found to have 4 mistresses, and 4 children.
Now here’s the rub. A survey conducted by China’s ‘national family planning commission’ showed that the majority of celebrities and rich people have 2 children, 10% of them in fact have 3 children. So what’s a government to do?
Very unlike the USA, to avoid the appearance of impropriety, or looking like one group may be favored over another: EXPOSE THE CULPRITS and raise the fines. Thus giving the appearance of social justice.
In a very ‘like’ the USA CHINAdaily’s report states, “…the official declined to reveal details on enforcing the fines.”
The Hunan province wants to keep its population within 70.1 million by 2010. With Hunan being only the 7th most populated province in China, officials there think the current policy has prevented 30 million births. Wow.
CHINAdailys complete story.
Photos Libby,Lohan,Bush,Gibson.
Labels: Cause Celeb, Censorship US Government, China, Hunan Province
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
Is Chinese Celebrity Justice Different than American Celebrity Justice?
