Nope, many Chinese had no choice but to have only one kid. Then in some cases the woman's eggs would get tied by relevant authorities in a butcher's fashion so no opportunities for a second child. In other cases the woman would be forded to abort when found pregnant with a second child.

You present the situation as if having one child was a deliberate choice in most Chinese families for all those years, while it wasn't in any way or shape whatsoever. Proof is lots of them decided to have a second child now that they are allowed to by the government, so they definitely didn't choose to only have one before.

I think one of the most hypocritically ironic thing that I have ever heard was a Chinese woman complaining to me that there are too many people in China while she was herself pregnant with her second child. Zero self awareness, it's other people's fault not mine! China in a nutshell