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China: When giving birth is a national duty

Condoms and other contraceptives are set to become more expensive in China, as the Communist Party tries to boost population growth.

With the economy slowing, birth rates declining and the population ageing, China’s government is trying all kinds of ways to make women have more babies – from taxing contraception to new laws on marriages, cash bonuses and propaganda campaigns.

Reproduction is seen as a national security issue, and the success or failure of the policies will have far-reaching consequences – for China’s economic and military strength, and for countries like Australia, who rely on China continuing to grow.

Today, senior analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies, Daria Impiombato, on the threat to women’s autonomy in China’s new phase of population control.

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