Tursun is a peasant, but her husband is from the city of Gulja so their status under the policy is unclear.
“Their experience sheds rare light on how China's one-child policy is enforced in remote parts of the country through fines, financial incentives, and heavy-handed coercion by zealous local officials eager to meet population targets set by cadres higher up,” Radio Free Asia says.
Arzigul Tursun’s treatment attracted protest from New Jersey Congressman Rep. Chris Smith, who is the U.S. House’s Ranking Member on the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. He voiced his opposition to the threatened forced abortion in a November 13 statement, saying:
"I appeal to the Chinese Government not to forcibly abort Arzigul, a Uyghur woman now in the custody of China’s population police and awaiting the nightmare of a forced abortion. The Chinese Government is notorious for this barbaric practice, but to forcibly abort a woman while the world watches in full knowledge of what is going on would make a mockery of its claim that the central government disapproves of the practice, and of the UN Population Fund pretense that it has moderated the Chinese population planners’ cruelty.”
The Front Royal, Virginia-based Population Research Institute has linked the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to assisting in forced abortions and coercive sterilizations in China. U.S. funding for the UNFPA was cut after it was found to be in violation of the federal Kemp-Kasten Amendment though such funding is expected to be restored under an Obama administration.
“Human rights groups and the U.S. Government will be watching very carefully to see what happens to Arzigul and her family," Rep. Smith’s remarks continued.
Before Arzigul Tursun was released, Pennsylvania Congressman Rep. Joe Pitts joined Rep. Smith’s protests, saying in a statement:
"I call on the Chinese Government to immediately intervene in order to stop any forced abortion from taking place. Though we know Chinese authorities regularly use forced abortions to enforce its coercive population control program, carrying out this brutal procedure with the world watching Arzigul Tursun’s case would display an utter disregard for any notion of human rights by the Chinese authorities. The Chinese Government should immediately release her from custody and allow her to carry her child to term.”
Rep. Smith had contacted U.S. Ambassador to China Clark Randt and asked him to intervene in Tursun’s case. According to Radio Free Asia, the ambassador spoke about the matter with the executive vice foreign minister, Wang Guanya.