A popular Chinese singer’s decision to give birth to a second child in her forties has set off a public debate about whether the rich and famous can circumvent China’s one-child policy, writes Michael Sheridan.
Mao Amin, who has a two-year-old daughter, had a baby boy at a private hospital in Shanghai late last month. This happy news seems to have irritated some Communist party propaganda officials, who authorised commentaries in the state media pointing out that Mao did not appear to meet the official criteria for having two children.

 
The birth was “sparking mounting speculation over whether or not the country’s privileged can challenge its family planning policy”, said the China Daily. “Loopholes in the policy have allowed some of the privileged to use their fortune or social ties to have a second child,” it complained.

The singer’s agent, Chen Ke, told the media that she was abiding by official policy, although he did not explain how this was so.

Officially, city dwellers who are only children may have two offspring and country people can have a second child if the first is a girl.

Chinese media say Mao is not an only child, which suggests to most people that she is ready to pay a big fine to enjoy parenthood again.

According to Sohu.com, a popular website, a rich factory owner recently paid a fine of more than £3,000 to have a second child. Other dodges for the rich include registering as an “overseas Chinese” — born in places such as Malaysia — or going abroad to give birth.

For the poor, it is a different story. China has drawn international criticism for harsh methods used to enforce the ban on more than one child, including forced abortions and compulsory sterilisation.

But last week’s media offensive suggested that party officials are rallying around the policy, which is estimated to have reduced China’s population, today more than 1.3 billion, by between 300m and 400m.

Wen Jiabao, the prime minister, said last week that “maintaining a low birth rate in the countryside is crucial”.

The policy has come under increasing scrutiny as China becomes an ageing nation. United Nations figures indicate that the population will peak at 1.48 billion in 2025 and then decline.

By 2050 there will be more than 600m Chinese over 50, more than twice the number under 20. The problem for China’s rulers is that among leftists, recently in the ascendant, the one-child policy remains a totem of government authority and social control.