 | | IDENTITY
"I think I'm a very lucky kid!"
China is the world's most populous country with 1.26 billion inhabitants.
Since 1979, birth control in China has been compulsory. Local party officials are responsible for enforcing the policy and couples who do not comply are heavily fined.
Recently, China has redoubled its efforts to control its population. In some rural areas the government permits a few exceptions - couples are authorised to have a second child if their first is a girl.
Miao, a single child born in the capital Beijing, however has been given many opportunities to grow and develop to her full potential. She was born into a middle class family. She has attended school, specialising in piano as well as English, which is her second interest.
She is also immensely proud to be Chinese, a pride that derives from her country's ancient heritage and current achievements.
Article 8 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child insists that children safeguard their cultural identity. It emphasises that governments should, "... respect the right of the child to preserve his or her identity, including nationality, name and family relations..."
Why does this right matter? A strong cultural identity has an enormous impact on how an individual approaches the world, as we can see in Miao's report. | |  Listen to Miao's story in Mandarin | | 
My name is Miao. I'm 13-years-old and I was born in Beijing, the capital of China.
I think I'm a very lucky kid.
China just got the Olympic bid for 2008. I took part in the Olympic bid performance so I am really very lucky!
Beijing is the capital... there's the Forbidden City and the Great Wall... Buddhist carvings at Donghuan... all made by ancient Chinese people... so I think the Chinese are great!
My hobby is playing the piano. I practice everyday.
From when I was very small my family wanted me to develop a special skill... and also exercise my brain. So, I started playing the piano. The piano is beautiful and so are the sounds it makes. I play the piano when I'm feeling sad or angry and when I'm happy.
My mother is an actress, she used to be a singer. My dad is a music teacher, so they both have something to do with music. That's why, from a young age, they wanted to me to specialise in something related to music.
Even if I don't want music in my future it's still a good thing to have; something that's different from other people.
I have a very good relationship with my parents. Although they are sometimes strict with me, I know they are doing it for my own good and future.
When I was little and I first started playing music, I wasn't very good and my parents would worry a lot when I had grade exams... I was only little and didn't really understand things... I always had to practice so much and I didn't like it...
I used to pretend that I was thirsty or needed the toilet... and then my parents would get angry and want to hit me and criticise me... and I really didn't understand why.
At first it hurt and I couldn't understand why they would get so angry with me, but now that I do, I am grateful to them.
Although Beijing's primary education isn't as relaxed as... America's [with its] "happy teaching", we are now trying to mix textbook teaching together with out of class activities, which is a good foundation for our education.
I'm at a very good school in Beijing.
Our teachers are really good, especially the first one we had... our first grade teacher Miss Xue. She hardly ever lost her temper but all the students were scared of her and respected her.
She also teaches English... and not just textbook stuff, she teaches English songs, makes us listen to the news and explains English jokes and stories; stuff that you can't learn from textbooks. Now our English level is really good.
Obviously I also really like music too. I'm the class monitor in our music class; it's the fourth grade class and it's the school's best... we have a competition to see which class is the best.
I coached my classmates who aren't so good... and we got the highest scores in our music exams... Of course it's mainly because our teacher is so good... so I like my teacher very much!
When I grow up I hope to do something with music. But I also think English is really important, so I'm concentrating on that as well as my piano.
When I grow up I want to be a conductor... there aren't many female conductors in China.
If I don't pass the entrance exams for music school then I'll study English and do something with that, like be a translator or something.
My parents want me to go to university... what they want is what I want.  | | | Listen to Miao's story in Mandarin | | |  |  |
 The Chinese government argues birth control is important to ensure an adequate food supply for the population and the nation's ongoing process of modernisation.
Critics of the scheme argue the institutionalised practice has led to the death and abandonment of female infants, because they are held in lower regard than males.
For every 100 girls registered at birth, there are now 118 little boys. In other words, nearly one seventh of Chinese girl babies are going missing.
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