Opinion & Commentary
Bachelors wreaking havoc in China
China’s leaders seem to be good at fixing big problems. They have transformed a backward economy into perhaps the most dynamic one in the world. More recently, their response to the earthquake in Sichuan province has been admirable, decisive, and competent. But as leader of the world’s most populous nation, what do you do with 30 million single, young men who have no prospect of ever finding a bride?
This is the dilemma facing Beijing’s leaders. Because of China’s infamous ‘one child policy’ and the Chinese preference for having sons over daughters, a monumental crisis is unfolding in China. The crisis is not just that of millions of men destined for the loneliness of bachelorhood – although that is bad enough in itself although good news for takeaways. As far as Beijing’s leaders are concerned, the problem is also potentially political.
China’s economy is still a state-dominated one. The regime still dispenses the lion share of the most important economic, professional and career opportunities in the country. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has made sure that working within the authoritarian setup rather than independent of it is a far more productive and profitable approach. Through a combination of awards, perks, and government largesse, the CCP has done a good job of co-opting and appeasing the newly emerging elites within the country: businessmen, intellectuals, academics, students, journalists and so on. In fact, the roughly 200 million middle class citizens in China are the Party’s strongest supporters.
However, co-opting elites is relatively easy to do. Dealing with the tens of millions of single men is proving a much harder task.
Beijing fears that China’s single young men are developing into a permanent, poor, disenfranchised, and angry underclass that will pose huge problems for stability in various areas within the country. Many of these single men are among the around 200 million migrant workers roaming mainly around China’s urban areas looking for temporary work. Known as the ‘dark horses of discontent’, these mingong do not mix well with the urban middle classes. As one resident in Shanghai describes them, “their work clothes, blue or brown, are shabby and covered in dust; they are thinner than most Chinese.”
Most of these single men tend to have little prospect of career or financial progression. This stands to reason since those that do tend to have no problems finding a bride.
These unmarried men are a problem for the government. Many of them are beginning to congregate in large groups in public areas of cities such as bus depots, train stations and shopping malls. Indeed, they will unofficially be banned from Olympic sites by image conscious officials.
Moreover, these groups of single men with few prospects are beginning to engage in criminal activity and even form gangs. Many others are hired by businesses or local officials as ‘thugs’ used to extract rents, taxes, or payments. It is no coincidence that urban areas with the highest crime rates have the highest proportion of single men.
Once just treated as a social phenomenon, authorities are finally admitting that they have a problem. For example, China’s State Population and Family Commission openly made the link and declared that “the increasing difficulties men face finding wives may lead to social instability.”
Relaxing the one-child policy will help correct the balance in the future but it will not do anything to increase the prospects of finding a wife for these millions of men.
Dr John Lee’s report Putting Democracy on Hold in China was released by the Centre for Independent Studies on Wednesday 28 May.
