“In a society like China they tend to want to have boys not girls -- and they tend to stake steps to make sure that’s the case. So what we’ve seen for the last two decades is that six boys have been born on average for every five girls. And therefore we know that in the next 20 years we’re gonna be about 50,000,000 men who are not gonna get a wife, and these people are gonna be bitter, angry and will eventually, I suggest, be a source of social instability in China.”
Many of these trends cannot be changed, he says, so China must move on other reforms, especially in education and innovation.
“There are a lot of problems in China which can be addressed and I suggest that it’s better for China to make its reforms early, rather than to delay. I think there’s a window of maybe 20 years to get reforms done, and I think there hasn’t been (a) sufficient sense of urgency amongst policymakers in China in recent years.”
Mr. Beardson also says poor environmental conditions threaten the health and longevity of China’s population. He says the country has strong environmental laws, but it has not enforced them.
I’m Jerilyn Watson.
And that’s As It Is for today.
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