China’s Demographic Crisis Threatens the Party’s Grand Plans, by Phil Lawler 

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture, Feb 04, 2026

Phil Lawler has been a Catholic journalist for more than 30 years. He has edited several Catholic magazines and written eight books. Founder of Catholic World News, he is the news director and lead analyst at CatholicCulture.org. See full bio.

Americans are understandably worried about competition—economic, military, and ideological—from China. Can our society resist China’s drive for world dominance? The long-term outlook is worrisome.

But China has a long-term problem of its own. The country’s population is shrinking, and the rate of shrinkage is accelerating. Once not too long ago, any high-school student, asked to name the world’s most populous nation, would confidently name China. Then for a few years the answer was in doubt. Now there is no longer a doubt: the correct answer is India.

A decade or two ago, Chinese leaders would have welcomed that news. The Communist Party was determined to curb population growth, convinced that the pressing needs of young children would interfere with the Party’s all-important plans for economic growth. So the Party imposed a brutal “one child only” policy, using political pressure and fines and even forced abortion and sterilization to curb the size of families. …

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