By The Associated Press

Published: Friday, December 28, 2012, 6:54 p.m.
Updated: Friday, December 28, 2012

BEIJING — Visit your parents. That's an order.

So says China, whose national legislature on Friday amended its law on the elderly to require that adult children visit their aged parents “often” — or risk being sued by them.

The amendment does not specify how frequently such visits should occur.

State media reported that the new clause would allow elderly parents who feel neglected by their children to take them to court.

A rapidly developing China is facing increasing difficulty in caring for its aging population. Three decades of market reforms have accelerated the breakup of the traditional extended family in China, and there are few affordable alternatives, such as retirement or care homes, for the elderly or others unable to live on their own.

Earlier this month, state media reported that a grandmother in her 90s in the prosperous eastern province of Jiangsu had been forced by her son to live in a pig pen for two years. News outlets frequently carry stories about parents being abused or neglected, or of children seeking control of their elderly parents' assets without their knowledge.

The expansion of China's elderly population is being fueled by an increase in life expectancy — from 41 to 73 over five decades.

1. Unchecked looting guts Egypt’s heritage, with one ancient site ‘70 percent gone’
2. Report: U.S. long ready to aid rebels
3. Turkey threatens to use military against demonstrators
4. Syria divides G8 summit
5. U.S., Cuba to resume talks on direct mail, stopped in ’63
6. Montreal’s anti-corruption mayor arrested on fraud allegations
7. Chinese supercomputer declared world’s fastest
8. New president shifts Iran’s tack, hews to nuclear goals
9. Egyptologist risks life, career to expose looting
10. We only sell real thing, Egyptian grave-robbing family boasts
11. Erdogan yields to Turkish protesters; unknown if action enough to halt demonstrations

There are currently no comments for this story.
Subscribe today! Click here for our subscription offers.