The death of Peng Peiyun, a former senior Chinese official who oversaw the country’s controversial one-child policy, has sparked a wave of criticism on social media rather than praise for her legacy. Peng died in Beijing on Sunday, just days short of her 96th birthday, Chinese state media reported.
Read More: China’s three-child policy is unlikely to increase fertility rates: Moody’s
Peng headed China’s Family Planning Commission from 1988 to 1998, a period when the one-child policy was enforced most rigidly across the country. State media described her as “an outstanding leader” for her work on population control and issues concerning women and children. Online reactions, however, reflected lingering public resentment toward the policy.
On Chinese social media platform Weibo, users criticised the devastating human cost of the policy, which limited most couples to a single child from 1980 until it was officially ended in 2015. Many posts recalled forced abortions, sterilisations and the loss of millions of unborn children. “Those children who were lost are waiting for you,” one user wrote in a comment directed at Peng.
The death of a former head of China’s one-child policy has been met not by tributes, but by castigation of the abandoned policy on social media this week. https://t.co/KUYvLgrvX8
— The Japan Times (@japantimes) December 25, 2025
Introduced to curb rapid population growth, the policy reshaped Chinese society for decades. In rural areas, where Peng focused much of her work, large families had traditionally been seen as a form of old-age security. The preference for sons also led to gender imbalance, abandoned infant girls and sex-selective abortions.
China’s demographic trajectory has since reversed sharply. After being overtaken by India in 2023 as the world’s most populous country, China’s population has declined for three consecutive years, falling to about 1.39 billion last year. Demographers warn the decline is likely to accelerate, with 2025 population data due to be released next month.
In later years, Peng herself publicly acknowledged the need to ease the policy. Beijing has since moved in the opposite direction, rolling out incentives such as childcare subsidies, extended maternity leave and tax breaks to encourage couples to have more children.
Read More: China to pay parents $500 a year to boost birth rate
The rapidly shrinking and ageing population has raised concerns about labour shortages, slower economic growth and rising pressure on pension systems, adding to the long-term challenges facing the world’s second-largest economy.