Human trafficking is a serious problem in China that can be traced back to China's one-child policy.
The policy has resulted in abortions, killings or abandonment of baby girls, and created a demand for abducted or purchased baby boys.
It has been recently reported that the Chinese government, due to scrutiny from the West, and the rising voices of the country's citizens, has taken steps to combat the black market by tightening adoption rules and cracking down on child trafficking rings.
The 355 suspects arrested in the operation included police officers from nine regions, including the provinces of Fujian, Yunnan, Sichuan, Anhui and Guangdong, Xinhua reported, citing the Ministry of Public Security.
Sadly, I have personally witnessed Chinese authorities actually take down posters of missing children in SAR's such as Macau and Hong Kong, as well as cities including Shenzhen and Shanghai. I have befriended chasing parents searching for their stolen children in cities that attempt to lure tourist, only to have these desperate parents disappear without a trace: where there was once a cell phone number, a home address, an email address - all whereabouts of their existence is gone because, in the past, China did not tolerate the public display of parents desperately searching for their kidnapped children. However, the problem has grown so serious, and the number of children being taken has risen significantly that the internal pressure of government accountability combined with pressure from the west has apparently begun to make a difference. God I hope so.
Many of the children abducted in China come from rural areas. They are then trafficked and sold in more affluent areas such as Fujian and Guangdongfor as much as 90,000 yuan ($14,400 U.S.) for a healthy male. In China's seedy black market sex trade, a Caucasian male child could sell for over 1,000,000 yuan.
Is China actually taking a major step in the right direction to combat the disgusting, prevalent, and notorious trade of child kidnapping and child slavery that has been part of it's culture for so long, or is this just showmanship?
I think the answer will be found on whether China demonstrates an openness to the criminal prosecution of the monsters who have traded in child flesh, and, to learn if Chinese authorities capably expanded their investigation and arrested others responsible for the unforgivable acts of child kidnappings.
Chen Shiqu, the ministry's criminal investigation division anti- trafficking office director said this past Monday that, "Since a government crackdown began in 2009, police have broken up 11,000 child trafficking rings and rescued 54,000 children."
Think about having 54,000 abducted in your country - a nation where the police either took part in the abductions or turned their eyes away from the criminal act. Unthinkable.
Despite the 54,000 children who have been rescued, the number of missing children in China remains extraordinarily large: estimates are in the high hundreds of thousands.
It's a start . . . but still the problem remains a large problem . . . one that India must now address.
Child abduction of any kind is an inhumane act conducted by a person who generally has no true respect for the dignity of life. Please support any organization dedicated to protecting children.
- Peter Thomas Senese -
Founding Director
The I CARE Foundation
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Peter Thomas Senese's critically acclaimed international legal thriller novel about child abduction titled 'Chasing The Cyclone' is available on e-book. 100% of all proceeds are donated to the I CARE Foundation.
