CONFIDENTIAL
to the one-child-per-family policy and to the practice of
compulsory abortions.
14m more than in 1985.
7.
The 1986 population was 1,060m,
If the present growth rate
continues, the plan to keep the population at no more
than 1,200 million by the year 2000 will have failed.
The government has adopted more flexible policies
towards minority nationalities and those who do not share
communist beliefs. Tibetan language and culture are now
promoted, though Tibetans will be unlikely to forget the
destruction of lives, holy places and sacred treasures in
the 1950's, and during the Cultural Revolution.
More
Tibetan and other minority leaders have administrative
posts in the autonomous regions, but key ones are still
in Han Chinese hands. The constitutional toleration of
religious belief is interpreted less restrictively, with
some state subsidies for training monks and priests.
Differing political views are tolerated to a greater
extent, but the most serious political dissenters (such
as Wei Jingsheng and others from the heady "Democracy
Wall" days of early 1978) remain in prison.
FC6AAI
CONFIDENTIAL
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.