As Chinese experts and local authorities across the country are thinking of new ways to encourage couples to have more children in light of China’s dropping birth rates, this latest measure announced by Shanxi’s Zhezhou County has sparked controversy.

Dropping birth rates have been a major concern for Chinese authorities for years now, and in light of the recent Two Sessions and its aftermath, it has become a bigger topic of discussion on Chinese social media.

To encourage young people to marry and have more children, various initiatives have been suggested or implemented, with a particular focus on the role education plays in this matter.

One recent proposal from an expert has been to shorten the education period as a means to promote China’s birth rates. This includes the idea of eliminating the middle school entrance exam to reduce two years of elementary and middle school education to allow young people to start their post-graduate life at an earlier age.

Earlier this month, another measure that also focuses on education in the context of boosting birth rates sparked heated debates on Weibo.

The measure was introduced by the local government of Zezhou County, a county in the southeast of Shanxi province. The idea entails that families of two children or more will receive benefits in education; their second or third child would get ten additional points in their senior high school exams (zhongkao 中考).

The related hashtag, titled “Second or Third Children from Shanxi’s Zezhou County Will Receive an Additional 10 points in the Senior High School Entrance Exam” (#山西泽州二三孩中考将加10分#) received over 120 million views in less than two days.

On Chinese social media, most netizens responded to this proposed measure with indignation, arguing that it violates the basic principle of exam equality.

In response, one popular legal blogger on Weibo called ‘Lawyer Zhuang Zhiming’ (@庄志明律师) published an article titled: “Shanxi’s Zezhou County Giving Families with Two/Three Kids Extra Zhongkao Points – How Did Such a Brainless Policy Come About?” (“山西泽州二、三孩家庭中考加分，如此弱智政策是怎么出台的?”)

In the article, the author vehemently criticized the policy, stating that it goes against the basic spirit of education equality and describing it as a “devilish measure against the times” (“逆时代的魔鬼之操作”).

In addition to being unfair to one-child families, the author argues that the policy also treats the first child of two or three children families unequally since they cannot receive the extra bonus points while their younger siblings can.

Many users on Weibo also agree with this argument, stating that the policy creates a situation where the first-born child is “inherently placed at a disadvantage,” “starting one step behind the others.”

The cover of the official notice from the Zezhou county government regarding their measurements for promoting the balanced development of population. Image from Sina Weibo’s post.

Other netizens also criticized this policy, viewing it as an extreme family planning policy. One Weibo post under the hashtag suggests that this policy is similar to measures taken during the one-child policy era and creates inequality to compel people to realize the state’s birth rate goals.

Another Weibo user stated: “When we were young, our parents were fined for having multiple children, while we watched families with one child or two daughters receive bonus points. Now that we’ve grown up and can’t afford to have more children, we’re watching those with two or three children receive bonus points.”

Some also expressed anger and frustration in the comments sections, saying these kinds of policies make them feel pressured to have children and actually makes them feel like not having kids altogether.

“Just don’t have babies at all,” one person wrote, while another comment said: “If we would treat humans as actual humans, we could avoid strange occurrences like this.”

In mid-March, Sina News reported that the local government responded that the policy is not active yet and is being implemented in “one or two years.”

In addition to the extra points for the senior high school entrance exam, the local authorities have come up with other measures that benefit families with two or three children, including exemption from outpatient registration fees in the county’s public hospitals, an additional sixty days of maternity leave for the third child, 50% off (second child) or no fees (third child) for county public kindergartens, and free after-school childcare services.

Although these local initiatives have drawn a lot of criticism, some people also applaud them.

Phoenix Weekly‘s Weibo account posted about all the measures taken by the local government, and one person replied: “This is the most effective policy I have seen so far. If Shanghai were to implement such measures, the birth rate would increase very quickly.”

Other netizens also suggested that the policy may not be as harmful as some claim it is. In response to concerns about the policy’s impact on education equality, some point out that the extra points are only added if students take the zhongkao for high schools located within the county. They, therefore, suggest the measure could actually decrease competition for urban schools, since there will be no bonus points for those entrance exams.

Another Weibo user trivialized the policy’s impact by suggesting that “there are no good high schools in the county, so [the policy] won’t have much of an influence [on education equality] at all.”

While the policy’s scope is limited to the county level and may not significantly affect the lives of most individuals, most commenters in these online discussions still see it as a challenge to the fundamental values of equality, merit-based education, and individual autonomy over family planning.

Many people doubt the effectiveness of manipulating the education system to boost birth rates and argue that addressing the broader socio-economic context is the only viable solution: “The government’s priority should be to ensure high-quality basic services for children and to maintain these standards. When people feel happy, they may be more willing to have children. Improving the quality of child-rearing and education is more crucial than increasing the quantity of children.”

By Zilan Qian

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A professor from Anhui who has given hundreds of speeches is at the center of controversy on Weibo, where many denounce the teacher for a ‘warm-up talk’ he did on Saturday. They also criticize Chinese media outlets for not reporting on what Chen Hongyou actually said.

The Chinese associate professor Chen Hongyou (陈宏友) has stirred major controversy this week for remarks made during a speech at a school in Hefei, Anhui.

Chen Hongyou, a well-known Hefei Normal University pedagogy teacher who reportedly has given over 1000 speeches, was invited to give a motivational speech at the Lujiang Middle School (庐江中学) on Saturday, February 18. Founded in 1903, the Lujiang Middle School is a locally acclaimed school with approximately 4000 students.

Just before Chen’s talk, he apparently improvised a short, informal speech since it was still taking some time for the PowerPoint presentation to load. This small speech, intended to warm up the audience, would soon grab nationwide attention.

The key to this story, namely what did Chen Hongyou actually say during his speech, is not specifically reported in Chinese media. This is something that was questioned by Chinese social commentator Sima Nan (司马南) in his most recent video, in which he wondered why an outline of Chen’s speech was not available to the public despite the major media attention for the incident.

According to various blogs and social media posts, Chen basically talked about how the goal of studying is to make money, as money brings power. Chen allegedly also argued that the better the university, the more chances of finding a partner from a bigger pool of people. This is important, because Chen apparently believes that mixing races – ‘the further apart partners live, the better’ – would provide better genes for the next generation.

Chen’s brother and his wife allegedly were born and raised in the same region, and their kids made it to college. Chen and his wife were born 100 km apart from each other, and their kid made it into a better university. Then he mentioned his son, who is now living in the US with his American girlfriend, and how their future children must have even better genes.

Chen presumably also made negative remarks about same-sex relations and encouraged students with high grades to find foreign partners in order to ‘produce’ children with better genes.

One student was so offended by the speech that he came up to the stage and seized Chen’s microphone, shouting out:

“He only has money on his mind. He is studying for money. He worships foreign things and bows to foreign powers [崇洋媚外]. [Applause] Why are we studying so hard? For the Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese nation! And not to breed with Americans. We are Chinese. Fellow students, study earnestly. For the rise of the Chinese people.”

A video of that moment also went viral on Chinese social media.

One student came up on stage to stop Chen’s speech.

After the student’s comments, the audience cheers and applauds. Chen gets the mic back and the students walks off stage.

On February 19, the official Weibo account of Hefei (capital of Anhui province) published a statement saying the incident was being investigated. That same day, staff members at the school stated that the student who came on stage and took the mic away from Chen would not be punished (#庐江中学称不会处理抢话筒学生#).

Chen Hongyou himself later also responded to the issue saying that he has temporarily been suspended from his function and that he regrets that his words were “misunderstood” by the students, for which he takes responsibility. Chen’s name and resume were also removed from his university’s website.

On social media, both the teacher and Chinese media outlets are getting attacked for their words and deeds.

Criticizing Chinese Media Reports

The Chen Hongyou incident went viral shortly after it happened. As mentioned, the exact context of what was actually said during Chen’s controversial speech was missing from Chinese media reports.

On Chinese social media, many netizens along with some major bloggers (including Sima Nan) criticized Chinese media outlets for seemingly ‘siding’ with Chen and not clearly reporting on what it was that was so upsetting to the students attending Chen’s talk.

Chinese news outlet The Paper (澎湃) is among the main outlets being criticized for their reports on the incident.

The Paper initiated a hashtag on social media about Chen Hongyou responding to the incident (#陈宏友回应讲座引不满被高中生反呛#), as their reporters had interviewed Chen by phone. In that interview, Chen stated that he had been misunderstood and that the goal of his speech had been to get the message across that the youth has the power to single-handedly change their destiny and to navigate their place in the country and in the world.

The report triggered criticism, as many commenters wondered why The Paper had not interviewed any of the students.

“Why aren’t you reporting what Chen said?” a common reply said.

“Right now, all the media, led by The Paper, are avoiding the important issues and are dwelling on the trivial things to defend this ‘professor,'” one commenter (@吴知山) wrote, claiming that Chinese media purposely left out the teacher’s remarks regarding race and ‘improving’ genes by choosing a foreign partner.

As online discussions heated up, several hashtags related to the incident and its aftermath were taken offline.

Supporting Zhang Zhenfei

Meanwhile, the student who came on stage is widely praised on Chinese social media, where many call him a “role model.”

Chinese political commentator Hu Xijin (胡锡进) responded to the Chen Hongyou incident via Weibo on Tuesday and sided with the student, calling him “courageous” for coming up on stage to make it clear that Chen was “out of line.”

Many people agreed with Hu, and soon the student, named Zhang Zhenfei (蒋振飞), was praised on Weibo and beyond for having the courage to speak out against the professor.

“I’m touched, I’m grateful, I’m extremely moved,” one person wrote about him.

But there are also people who are more critical of the student, suggesting that Chen was giving a speech – he was not teaching – and that he should have been able to express his ideas without his microphone being grabbed away like that.

The Chen Hongyou controversy comes at a time when there is, again, more attention for Chinese education and teaching material in Chinese schools. Last week, the topic of “poisonous teaching material” also went trending on Weibo (#毒教材必须引发全社会反思#) as various bloggers expressed concerns over ‘harmful’ textbooks being used in schools.

In pointing out harmful content in textbooks, concerned bloggers and parents also often mention content that is seen as being unpatriotic and “worshipping the West.” For example, in the 2022 controversy over the “ugly maths schoolbooks,” one point of concern – among many others – was about the cartoon kids in the book wearing clothes showing the American flag.

Many commenters also connect the current controversy surrounding teacher Chen with existing concerns over ‘poisonous’ text books, calling for a “clean-up” of China’s education system.

One Weibo user wrote: “Our kids can’t be taught this kind of talk that the goal of studying is to go to the U.S. and earn money and marry an American in order to ‘optimize’ our race! He is suggesting the Chinese people aren’t good enough. It’s criminal, and he should be punished according to law.”

By Manya Koetse 

with contributions by Miranda Barnes

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