Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Zurijeta via Shutterstock
Child Trafficking

China busts trafficking ring, 89 children rescued

Chinese police have rescued 89 children and arrested 355 suspects after busting a series of child trafficking rings. Police are now searching for their parents.

CHINESE POLICE HAVE rescued 89 children and arrested 355 suspects after busting a series of child trafficking rings, officials said Monday.

Officers from nine regions, including Fujian, Yunnan, Sichuan, Anhui and Guangdong, took part in a joint drive beginning December 18 against the networks, said Chen Shiqu, director of the anti-trafficking office in the public security ministry.

The children are being cared for in local nursing homes and police are searching for their parents, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

“We will collect the children’s DNA and use it to find their parents within a national DNA database established for anti-trafficking purposes,” it quoted Chen as saying.

Trafficking of children is a serious problem in China, blamed in part on the strict “one-child” policy which has put a premium on baby boys.

Wang Xizhang, a high-level law enforcement official in Fujian province, said potentially large profits have fuelled the trade.

A healthy male infant bought for 30,000 yuan (€3,648) in poor provinces such as Yunnan can be sold for 70,000 to 90,000 yuan (€8,500 – €10,945) in the comparatively wealthy provinces of Fujian and Guangdong, Wang was quoted as saying.

Since April 2009, when a ministry crackdown began, police have broken up 11,000 child trafficking rings and rescued 54,000 children, according to Chen.

- © AFP, 2012

Your Voice
Readers Comments
4
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.