I was abandoned by China because I was a girl - Canadian 100m Olympic gold medalist swimmer

 

I was abandoned by China because I was a girl - Canadian 100m gold medalist swimmer

Two days ago, on Monday (26), 21 - year - old Chinese-born Canadian Margaret McNeill won the women's 100m butterfly final at the Tokyo Olympics.

Social media in China is now ablaze with a controversial revelation about her after she gained international fame on Monday. The reason is that her Chinese parents abandoned her because she was a girl and later adopted a Canadian family. She has been abandoned because of decades of rigid one-child policy in China. It is a well-known fact that due to this policy, some parents who know that they are going to have girls are aborting the child or abandoning the child or selling it secretly.

Margaret McNeill, a Canadian swimmer who won the gold medal for this unfortunate fate, revolutionized China's policy on China's heritage. Until a very recent change, there was a heated debate about the one-child policy and gender discrimination that had existed in China for decades.

Adding to the controversy was Zhang Yufei, China's top swimmer, who finished second with a time of 0.05 seconds, finishing second in the gold medal race.

Posts about Margaret and Zhang Yufei on Chinese social media said that both medals should be given to China.

The news became the most popular topic on Weibo, a Chinese micro-blogging site, on Monday evening with hashtags about the revolution, which garnered nearly 400 million discussions. News is now circulating in the international media that Margaret McNeill's story reflects the broader social and political context regarding China's policies. McNeill was born in 2000 in Jiujiang, on the south bank of the Yangtze River in Jiangxi Province, China. Many on Chinese social media posted suspicious notes that she had been abandoned by her biological parents. This was once a common practice in China under the one child policy that has now been abolished. Due to the traditional preference for sons among many Chinese families, the strict policy that was in effect until 2016 led to abortions, abortions and deaths of female infants. As a result, the sex ratio at birth changed dramatically.

 In 2016, the Chinese government allowed all couples to have two children. This year, the policy of allowing three children was further relaxed. But for many Chinese Internet users, especially women, McNell's victory is a vivid reminder of the harmful legacy of decades of policy and gender inequality. After Monday's competition, silver medalist Chinese swimmer Zhang said McNell felt a bit close to her. "I feel like she's a family member," Zhang told Reuters.