PARENTS the world over want perfect babies鈥攖hough not everyone will agree what 鈥減erfect鈥� means. A survey of deaf people (see p 18) has revealed a few who would prefer deaf children. Perhaps they see deafness as part of their identity, or maybe they fear rejection by children who can hear.
Whatever their reasons, they would get short shrift in China. According to a recent survey (also p 18), Chinese geneticists favour prenatal tests to back what appear to be eugenic practices. The finding will horrify most of their Western colleagues, and increase the pressure on them to boycott meetings in China. But the survey also underscores the need for constructive dialogue. And that can only take place if geneticists in the West understand the cultural forces at work.
Xin Mao, the survey鈥檚 author, makes no apologies for the findings. In China, individuals are more willing than in most Western countries to make sacrifices for the general good. China also has a burgeoning population. It鈥檚 not hard to see why its geneticists might seek to cultivate the view that having an 鈥渦nhealthy鈥� child is 鈥渓etting the side down鈥�.
Advertisement
Who knows whether ordinary Chinese agree with the nation鈥檚 geneticists? But even if they do, it doesn鈥檛 change the argument. Eugenics is abhorrent, whether it is directed by force or through active 鈥渃ultural鈥� compliance. It recalls horrific memories of attempts to create a master race and is the antithesis of human rights as it is known in the Western world.