Parents who lost their only child deserve sympathy and better care

A SUB-DISTRICT OFFICE IN XIANGTAN, Hunan province, and the public health department of Xinzhou, Shanxi province, have listed families losing their only child as potential targets in their campaign against organized crimes. China Daily reporter Li Yang comments:

Absurdity often harbors rationality. Although the local authorities of the two places quickly removed the families from their "black list", their initial move has sparked public outrage.

More than 1 million families in China, according to estimates, have lost their only child mainly because of premature death or accidents. The family planning policy carried out from the early 1980s to three years ago stipulated that one couple could have only one child, and many parents who lost their only child during those years are now in their 50s or 60s without anybody to support them.