China View: Disability, Discrimination, and the Limits of Reform
Disabled Chinese man works as a teacher in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region,
China is home to one of the largest disabled populations in the world, including 24 million people with physical impairments, 20 million with hearing disabilities, 12 million with visual impairments, 6 million with developmental disabilities, 5 million with intellectual or mental disabilities, over 1 million with speaking disabilities, and nearly 14 million people living with multiple disabilities. The disabled population, making up 6% of the nation’s total, is impoverished, discriminated against, and forgotten by its own government. Recent efforts by the Chinese Communist Party to lift disabled citizens out of poverty and pass laws protecting the rights of physically and mentally disabled people have contributed to its controversial reelections to the UN Human Rights Council. Yet it remains in question whether these efforts were made out of goodwill, or to improve China’s image on the international stage, particularly among other UN member states which have criticized China’s lack of commitment to curbing alleged human rights abuses in manufacturing, construction, energy, and various other industries. Rampant discrimination by business owners, who often choose to pay government fines rather than meet disability quotas in hiring, increasingly common instances of sexual misconduct against disabled women in the workplace, and a generally uncaring view toward the disabled have all limited China’s physically and intellectually disabled population from entering the middle class and sharing in the nation’s economic rise. These challenges are only deepened by the CCP’s government-sponsored campaign to promote the idea that disability is a personal tragedy, and something to overcome, rather than an inescapable part of life for millions of Chinese citizens.
Not all is lost, however, for the nearly 84 million people in China living with disabilities. In 2022, initiatives launched by the Beijing-based Leping Social Entrepreneur Foundation began promoting companies across the country that take meaningful action toward disability inclusion in their workforces. Grassroots movements, both inside and outside China, are working to lift the country’s disabled population living in poverty, estimated to be between 20 and 25 million people, most in rural areas, into a more equitable future. Yet with so many systemic barriers in place, can any efforts, economic or legal, bring change?
Xi Jinping and the CCP have taken steps toward enhancing the livelihoods of the disabled community. Beginning in 2008, the CCP ratified the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), a multinational pact that established the rights of those with disabilities and required its member states to take action in eliminating discrimination against the disabled. Five years later, in 2013, China established a State Council Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to ensure there is appropriate alignment between the UN’s convention and Chinese law. More recently, in 2016, the CCP put forth plans for national rehabilitation services, the development of special education programs, and vocational therapy across China. In 2023, they enacted the Barrier-Free Living Environment Law, targeted at building more inclusive infrastructure for the blind and people with physical impairments. The publicity from such pledges has landed China their sixth straight reelection to the UN’s Human Rights Council and a lack of criticism from their allies globally on their genuine treatment of the disabled population. This apparent legal action, however, has not advanced the social or economic status of China’s disabled population. According to 2007 data from the CDPF, or China Disabled Persons' Federation, of the 30 million people living in absolute poverty, defined as ¥785 per person per year ($102 USD), 80% were disabled.
With recent high unemployment trends across China within the past 5 years, the poverty status for disabled individuals is not estimated to have improved.
Even with government oversight and regulation aimed at improving the condition of the disabled, long-held sentiments in Chinese culture continue to prevent the disabled population from advancing socially and economically. In 2007, China issued its “Regulations on the Employment of People with Disabilities”, which required both public and private businesses to ensure that at least 1.5% of their workforce consists of disabled individuals. If the quota is not met, the CCP has the authority to levy fines against those businesses. A 2012 government inspection of the law revealed that many businesses across the country, both public and private, had not only failed to meet the quota but had also neglected to pay the required fines for several years, a complete disregard for the law. Many business owners simply refused, and continue to refuse to employ disabled individuals as they hold prejudice and believe they cannot adequately contribute to business operations.
In the service sector, one of the few industries in China that routinely employs people with disabilities, cases of sexual abuse against women have become increasingly common.Blind or visually impaired women, often young girls working as masseuses, have reported numerous incidents of misconduct by both customers and employers. These masseuses are often forced to endure mistreatment and continue working, as few other employment opportunities are available.
The CCP and collective Chinese culture’s unwillingness to accept the lived experiences of its disabled citizens has led to a state-sponsored advertisement campaign promoting the idea that the disabled can prevail through their impairments and should live and work like normal citizens. One state-sponsored film from 2022, entitled 回村三天 二舅治好了我的精神内耗 (Three Days Back in the Village and My Second Uncle Cured My Mental Struggle), uses a common expression in China that conveys how returning to a simpler life can often cure any illness or offer relief. Films like this promote the idea that a simple return to ancient traditions can magically cure permanent disabilities. This culture shifts the responsibility of looking after the disabled away from the government and onto individuals themselves, creating the narrative that it is their responsibility to heal and overcome.
Image from the film 回村三天 二舅治好了我的精神内耗 (Three Days Back in the Village and My Second Uncle Cured My Mental Struggle)
China is sending the wrong message to its disabled population. Lackluster social services and a culture that marginalizes disabled individuals are key reasons why the disabled community in China faces some of the highest rates of poverty and unemployment. However, new organizations like the Leping Social Entrepreneur Foundation (LSEF) are launching initiatives aimed at funding companies across China that support, employ, and give back to the disabled community. Acting as a venture capital firm, LSEF’s newest initiative, called B in Action, focuses on recruiting companies willing to take one tangible step to improve the livelihoods of disabled individuals. As of 2024, over 50 private and public organizations have joined the program, a bright patch in an otherwise worsening future for China’s disabled population.
