No extra compensation for Chinese nationals

Kate Chapman at Stuff reports:

The families of Chinese students killed in the Christchurch earthquake will not get extra compensation, despite claims that they need it because of China’s one-child policy.

At least 24 Chinese nationals, mainly students studying in the CTV building, were believed to have been killed in last month’s quake, though only seven have been formally identified so far. Most were aged between 15 and 30.

Cheng Lei, co-ordinator of the Chinese embassy’s disaster relief centre, told Radio New Zealand that the one-child policy meant the victims’ families had lost their source of economic assistance for retirement. He called on the New Zealand Government to increase the ACC compensation available to them. …

Prime Minister John Key said the Government felt great sympathy for the families but would not change its policy.

It was never going to happen of course. Could you imagine the outcry if the Government approved higher payouts to foreigners, than to its own citizens. You’d be more popular selling steaks to vegans.

The request from the Chinese Embassy is I am sure made in good faith. Losing your only child must be a massive blow to a family, and they’ll never recover from it.

However even if one accepted that parents who have lost their only child should get more compensation than those with multiple children (and I don’t – children are not like tyres, where you just replaced the broken one with a spare), the question might arise about whether the compensation should come from the country where the earthquake happened – or from the Chinese Government which has implemented the one child policy.

It is worth noting that the Chinese Embassy were passing on requests from the families of the dead students, rather than making an official request.