By MONROE ROARK
mroark@thecitizennews.com

I haven't seen that new "Bachelorettes" show on Fox television, but I know to go for the second season after wrapping up production in Alaska. It seems that China has plenty of available men right now, and the number is growing fast.

According to a front-page story this week in USA Today, the Chinese have a serious problem on their hands. Most, if not all, of it is the doing of its government.

In 1979, China found itself in what it considered a major population problem and decided to do something about it. Fearing that the masses of people would soon outstrip the country's resources, the government made a ruling unprecedented in modern times all couples were limited to one child apiece.

That curbed the birth rate a bit, but it set in motion a series of other events that could prove catastrophic. Authorities are now estimating that over the next 20 years, as many as 40 million Chinese men could be faced with no prospects for marriage because there are not enough women to go around.

With a culture that overwhelmingly favors boys over girls, Chinese couples have been taking advantage of modern technology and weeding out female fetuses to the point that 116.9 boys were born in China for every 100 girls, according to that country's census. Compare that to the U.S. ratio of 104.8 boys per 100 girls, or the worldwide ratio of 105-107 boys per 100 girls, and the staggering imbalance is clear.

As it has been more than 20 years since China's one-child policy was instituted, the first children born under that policy have now reached adulthood. The effects are already being felt as hundreds of thousands of workers migrate from the rural areas to the cities and large contingents of single men settle in specific areas without women. Obviously, the women are taking advantage of the situation and can be rather selective when thinking of marriage. But as they narrow their criteria for suitable mates, a large number of less affluent and less educated (40 percent of unmarried rural men are illiterate, according to the USA Today report) men are left with no such options. Some expert worry that the crime rate in a variety of categories will continue to grow.

The Chinese magazine Beijing Luntan opined several years ago that "such sexual crimes as forced marriages, girls stolen for wives, bigamy, visiting prostitutes, rape, adultery ... homosexuality ... and weird sexual habits appear to be unavoidable." Apparently, such practices as prostitution and the buying and selling of of women as brides are already on the rise.

With many fearing massive unrest in future years, social scientists are now speculating that China could be forced to take drastic action to keep its male populace under control. Some predict that the country will use increased authoritarian rule or increase the size of its armies, effectively looking for conflicts with other nations to keep these millions of men busy.

Whatever happens, many men will be forced to consider a lifetime of bachelorhood, like it or not. As Beijing Luntan said, they will learn to "handle the punishment they have received as a result of ... the mistakes of the previous generation."

Maybe this will serve as a lesson to governments around the world not to involve themselves in decisions best left to God. Is it an accident that, when left alone, billions of natural births over the course of a generational span turn out almost equally balanced between male and female?

China should have found another solution to its population concerns, like joining the 20th century and abandoning communism so its people could be fed and educated properly and have a chance at a better quality of life. Instead, the government forced couples to make decisions they never should have had to make.

Given the centuries of history and tradition there, could anyone expect less than massive illegal pre-natal screenings and wholesale abortions of females, especially since China encouraged abortions to keep the one-child rule in effect in the first place?

Now, after decades of seeing the Chinese government play God, its citizens will pay the price.

[Monroe Roark can be reached at mroark@TheCitizenNews.com.]

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