China’s Population Decline Exposes the Failure of Forced Birth Control and Government Incentives

China’s decade-long experiment of loosening its infamous one-child policy has failed spectacularly. Despite lifting restrictions first to two children in 2015 and later three in 2021, the nation faces one of the world’s lowest birthrates and a shrinking population for the third consecutive year. As Beijing struggles to reverse this decline with subsidies and benefits, the reality is clear: top-down population control not only violates fundamental freedoms but also leads to long-term demographic disaster. Why China's Population Crisis Matters for America With a population dropping below 1.41 billion—a historic reversal unseen since 1961—China’s demographic unraveling sends ripples far beyond Asia....