China's Empty Maternity Wards

Population bomb fizzles as Beijing learns it will have to pay for its skewed social experiment

The Chinese Communist Party Politburo, which announced on May 31 that all married couples could have three children if they wish, ends one of the most radical social experiments in history, which began in 1978 when then-paramount leader Deng Xiaoping said families would be limited to a single child.

This effort at social engineering has been criticized a…