In response to the negative population growth, the Chinese Communist Party, which previously enforced forced abortions on women, has now shifted towards encouraging childbirth. However, a leaked document from Huaqiao University in Fujian province revealed that Wu Guoxiang, the deputy dean of the School of Foreign Languages, was recently punished for “exceeding planned births” between 2009 and 2017, receiving a 3-year suspension of admitting graduate students. This incident has sparked questioning and criticism online in mainland China.
Chinese media figure Hong Guangyu posted on Weibo a red-headed document from the CCP Huaqiao University Committee in April 2026, stating, “Huaqiao University is going against the tide with this move!”
The document disclosed that Wu Guoxiang, born in September 1977 in Meizhou, Guangdong, holds a doctoral degree. He started working in July 2000 and joined Huaqiao University in July 2015, serving as an associate professor in the School of Foreign Languages. From August 2024 to present, he has been the deputy dean (on probation) and an associate professor in the School of Foreign Languages. Between October 2009 and October 2017, Wu Guoxiang violated CCP population and family planning laws and regulations by exceeding planned births.
The university administration imposed a serious warning and disciplinary action on Wu Guoxiang, concluding that he committed a second-degree breach of professional ethics. Sanctions include the cancellation of commendations, title assessments, job promotions, qualification for talent projects, research project applications, selection as a graduate supervisor, overseas study opportunities, and a ban on admitting graduate students for a period of 36 months.
The document has sparked heated discussions online, with many netizens criticizing the retrospective punishment after many years, especially considering the complete reversal of the childbirth policy as “reopening old wounds” and going against the current trend.
Renowned Weibo user “Penglai Harbor” commented, “This university is quite bold, digging up issues from years ago. Do they find the current birth rate still too high?”
Some netizens remarked, “Who has been offended? Whose path has been blocked?”
Following the document leak, Beijing scholar Xi Wuyi criticized the incident in an article, highlighting the profound contradiction between policy changes and disciplinary actions, calling for deep reflection from society. The radical shift from “harsh penalties for excess births” to “wholehearted encouragement of childbirth” within just over a decade signifies a fundamental 180-degree turnaround in the childbirth policy, making the current accountability for excess births appear “absurd”.
Weibo influencer Kailai commented with skepticism: 1. Suspecting it might be fake news. 2. What does it mean to violate family planning for 10 years from 2009 to 2017? Exceeding planned births is not a one-off event within a year; the punishment should have a clear timeframe. Did Wu Guoxiang exceed planned births in 2009, have another in 2017, and possibly more before that? 3. The policy allowed a second child in 2015, so why isn’t the punishment deadline set at 2015? What does it signify?
As of now, Huaqiao University has not responded to the issue, and the relevant documents remain online without deletion. Attempts by Hong Kong’s *Ming Pao* newspaper to contact the university and Wu Guoxiang via phone and email have not received responses.
Since the 1970s, the Chinese Communist Party has implemented strict one-child policies nationwide, resulting in forced abortions, forced sterilizations, and fines for exceeding birth quotas, leading to significant hardships for millions of Chinese citizens, especially women. According to official Chinese government estimates, the four-decade-long family planning policy has prevented the birth of 400 million people in mainland China.
In September 2013, China’s National Audit Office revealed that family planning officials in 45 counties across nine provinces illegally collected over 1.6 billion RMB in fines between 2009 and 2012. However, a lawyer from Zhejiang province obtained records from family planning offices in 17 provinces in July 2013, showing that in 2012 alone, these offices collected fines amounting to 16.5 billion RMB. How this money was spent remains unclear.
According to the UK’s *The Guardian*, certain local authorities even allowed family planning officials to retain a portion of the social support fees as personal income, turning profiting from excess births into a government-endorsed practice.
With the exacerbation of aging demographics in China, the CCP was compelled to implement the “universal second child” policy in 2016. In the aftermath of factors like the COVID-19 pandemic decimating the population, authorities opened up to a third child in 2021, and starting from May 2022, Guangdong residents can have children without prior approval. Despite these measures, China’s birth rate continues to decline, prompting authorities to resort to various methods to boost childbirth, sparking backlash among the public.