Over 1,000 Held for Baby Trafficking In China

Chinese police detained 1094 people and rescued 382 babies in major crackdown on child traffickers, the Ministry of Public Security said.

The detainees are accused of trading babies by establishing illegal online platforms and shops under the name of adoption for child-less parents or re-homing centres. Child trafficking has emerged as threat in recent years in China where criminals are alleged to be using internet for illegal human trafficking. The gangs steal and sell children to couples or force them into begging and various other crimes.

Population control rules have caused a traditional bias for sons, who are seen as the support of elderly parents and heirs to the family name, leading to the abortion, killing or abandonment of girls. About 118 boys are born for every 100 girls in China, against a global average of 103 to 107 boys per 100 girls. The imbalance has created a demand for baby boys who would be kidnapped, as well as baby girls who as brides would attract rich dowries in sparsely populated regions.

The traffickers are hidden and deceptive and used websites such as “China’s Orphan Network” and “Dream Adoption Home”, which make it harder to track them down, says Xinhua, the state news agency. Xinhua has also warned parents to protect their children from kidnappers who could pose as nurses in hospitals or wait outside school gates to dupe away unsuspecting children into vans or speed off with them on motorbikes.

Last month a Chinese court ordered a suspended death sentence for a Zhang Shuxia, 55, an obstetrician in northwestern Shaanxi province, who sold seven newborns babies for as much as 21,600 Yuan each between 2011 and 2013 to human traffickers in a case that sparked public anger. Last year, China, which has a population of about 1.4 billion, said it would ease family restrictions, letting millions of families have two children, as opposed to its strict one-child policy.

Infoeditor