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41 C h i n a : M o r a l P u z z l e s X u Ti a n - M i n China: Moral Puzzles X U T I A N - M I N Medical moral theory has a long history in China dating back to the epoch of the Warring States (475–221 bc). Systematic study of modern medical ethics and bioethics in China only began in the early 1980s, however. In October 1988, the first Chinese bioethics association was founded. There are now many symposia and exchange activities on bioethics in several provinces and districts. The most prominent topics are population control, euthanasia, and the allocation of health care resources. Birth Control and Population Policy China faces a major problem of population explosion. According to 1987 data, China has a population of 1.08 billion, with a net increase of over 15 million people annually. Unlimited population expansion threatens to produce disastrous results and eventually jeopardize individuals’ personal benefit and value. Therefore, effective birth control and family planning are essential. China’s current population policy restricts excessive births and encourages couples to have only one child (except in remote regions and among minority nationalities). The government supports married couples’ voluntary use of a number of contraceptive means, including sterilization and elective abortion. Birth control services are provided by various regional healthcare institutions. This policy is grounded in public welfare arguments. There are, however, two opposing views. One is rooted in traditional Chinese concepts of the family embodied in such proverbs as “more have no children is the worst thing for the family”. Western radical individualism also contributes an opposing perspective. Thus controversy regarding population policy seems inevitable. R E T R O S P E C T I V E B I O E T H I C S O N T H E P A C I F I C R I M Asian Bioethics Review December 2008 inaugural edition 41–43 A s i a n B i o e t h i c s R e v i e w D e c e m b e r 2 0 0 8 i n a u g u r a l e d i t i o n 42 Euthanasia and the Right to Die The idea of the right to choose death can be found in Chinese philosophy. For example, ancient people said that though death befalls all men alike, it may be weightier than Mount Taishan or lighter than a feather. Some, that is, die honorably and well; others die dishonorably and meaninglessly. Yet each has the right to choose his own way of dying. Euthanasia has only recently come to popular attention in China. In June 1986, two doctors in Han Zhong (Shan Xi province) were accused of murder for assisting a terminally ill patient to die. The patient had been unconscious for a long time and two of her children implored the doctors over and over again to give their mother an easy death. The physicians complied with this request, but two of the woman’s other children, who came to the hospital later, accused them of murder. In the end, the doctors were sentenced to prison terms. The “Han Zhong affair” surprised the many Chinese who support euthanasia and provoked intense controversy among scholars. In July 1988, the first academic conference addressing permitting euthanasia in China was held. Two major ethical dilemmas emerged. One arises from the deontological position that holds a doctor’s duty to include both saving the patient’s life and relieving pain. A doctor should not forgo saving a patient’s life as the only way to relieve his pain. This dilemma concerns the mission of the medical profession. But euthanasia also raises dilemmas for society when the patient’s personal benefit conflicts with the family’s or society’s overall benefit. Most of the lawyers attending the conference believed that euthanasia is not compatible with China’s present civil and criminal law, and with marriage law, which prohibits any mistreatment and abandonment of family members. Allocation of Resources The healthcare budget is very small in China’s total national budget (less...

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