‘Missing My Chinese Co-Parent’: American Mom Celebrates Raising Kids In Repressive Communist State

Fashion designer, who spent 16 years living in Communist China with her two daughters. She celebrated the birth of her children. “co-parented by the Chinese government.”

Heather Kaye shared her optimistic view of communist China in an interview opinion piece The New York Times

Kaye laughed when Kaye said that she “laughed out loud” When you view a picture online showing an American woman wearing a T shirt with American inscriptions, “I refuse to co-parent with the government.”

“In China, government co-parenting begins in the womb,” Kaye stated, noting that China has for many years set limits on how many children parents can have. Chinese citizens are still prohibited from determining this number. “gender of their unborn babies.”

“I had to accept that my growing belly had become community property … restaurants would refuse to serve me cold beverages,” She recalled.

“In 2008 and 2010 we delivered two healthy daughters in Shanghai and faced the choice of all expatriate parents in China: between pricey international schools and enrollment in local schools, overseen by the government and with an immersion in Chinese culture and values,” She wrote that they had discussed the possibility of their daughters learning, and that it was something she felt strongly about. “fluent Mandarin and, hopefully, a broadened worldview” However, they can also be exposed. “Communist Party propaganda and potential social isolation of being foreigners in a group of Chinese students … we took the plunge.”

“Our stringent government co-parent quickly made its presence felt,” Kaye wrote: “how many hours our daughters should sleep, what they should eat and their optimal weight. Each morning all of the students performed calisthenics in straight rows and raised China’s red flag while singing the national anthem.”

Kaye was happy for the Chinese communist school that her girls attended. “self-discipline, integrity and respect for elders.”

“At times, our girls would repeat propaganda,” She acknowledged her gratitude, and praised the “heavy censorship, which results in a kid-friendly internet, and national limits on how many hours young people can spend playing online video games.”

Kaye praised Kaye “tight control of the Communist Party surveillance state” For allowing her daughters to ride on the subway at the age of 11 “The sense of civic pride was palpable,” She agreed.

“We’ve returned to a divided America where many feel government has no place in our lives,” Kaye wrote despairingly. “In these times, I find myself missing my Chinese co-parent.”

“Attention to the common good is a fundamental value I seek in an American government co-parent,” Kaye concluded.

After 16 years in Shanghai, American expat Heather Kaye and her family are part of an exodus of both foreigners and locals driven out by China’s unshifting COVID zero policy that’s seen two years of strict curbs and a crushing two-month lockdown https://t.co/9IEeG1nkOc pic.twitter.com/Iy26BvnQNo

— Reuters (@Reuters) July 7, 2022

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases