For sale: Chinese babies and children

As many as 70,000 Chinese children are abducted and sold each year. Some end up in the US. Benjamin CarlsonOctober 3, 2013 00:17 Editor's note: We publish thousands of stories at GlobalPost every year. But some of these don't receive the reader attention they deserve. Our series "2 !ust" #eads of 2 $%" fi&es that problem. 'ere's a loo( ) maybe a second one ) at some of our best *ournalism of the year. 'O+G ,O+G ) +o ni-htmare is more chillin- than havin- one.s child stolen a/ay. But in 0hina1 that ni-htmare becomes real up to 2 1 times a year.

3lthou-h little (no/n about it outside the country1 child traffic(in- is epidemic in the People.s #epublic. Every year1 thousands of youn- children ) typically from poor families ) are (idnapped1 transported hundreds of miles1 and sold for 45 to 45 .

6ome end up as prostitutes or slave laborers. !ost are bou-ht by people /ho /ant to raise the child as their o/n. 6tymied by poverty and indifferent local police1 many birth parents hunt for their children for years and never find them. Bei*in- has been tryin- to combat the problem for years. Police have rescued more than 571 children and crac(ed do/n on $$1 traffic(ers since 2 81 accordin- to

9inhua ne/s a-ency. 0hina does not release statistics on the overall number of abduction cases reported. :Estimates ran-e from about $ 1 to 2 1 (ids per year1; says 0harlie 0uster1 the

co"creator of a ne/ documentary on the sub*ect1 <ivin- With =ead 'earts. :>ou can't put that many (ids on a mil( carton.;

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?6ource: >ou@ubeA

Official cooperation on the matter has been mixed. At a hearing in late September, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child asked a Chinese delegation whether Bei ing wo!ld ban all forms of trafficking and sale of children. "he delegation declined to answer. "he committee also !rged the go#ernment to enlist more help from ci#il societ$ in rooting o!t trafficking. >et 0hina is ta(in- steps to/ard tac(lin- the problem. @he -overnment has created an anti"abduction tas( force that investi-ates and crac(s do/n on baby smu--lin- rin-s. @his month1 the -roup freed 82 children /ho had been stolen from poor re-ions of south/estern 6ichuan and >unnan provinces. But for families1 such measures are not enou-h. !any say that local police offer little help to parents filin- abduction reports. When the police do act1 it.s often too late. @he first fe/ days after a (idnappin- are crucial1 as or-aniBed crime rin-s can Cuic(ly transport children thousands of miles throu-h a net/or( of accomplices. Dn fact1 in some areas1 the -overnment is complicit. Earlier this year1 a family planninofficial in Eu*ian province /as arrested for helpin- bro(er the sale of four babies. 6ome officials have also helped falsify papers to put children in orphana-es1 /here they can

be adopted by international clients /ho must pay steep fees. 3ccordin- to a 2 $$ investi-ation by 0ai&in ma-aBine1 some of these children have ended up in the F61 Poland1 and other Western countries. %D /ould *ust say1 don't adopt a (id from 0hina no/1; 0uster says. Why is this happenin-G !any e&perts point blame at the one"child policy. Parents /ho /ant a son may decide to buy one on the blac( mar(et1 to avoid the ris( of -ivin- birth to a dau-hter and payin- fines. One recent case involved a family /ith three dau-hters in 'enan province /ho paid over 4H1 for an infant boy.

@here are social factors as /ell. People /ho purchase abducted children face little or no penalty1 as lon- as the youths are treated decently. 3nd a lon- tradition in 0hina of people raisin- distant relatives. children as their o/n -ives buyers some cover. %!ore broadly1 the problem is as bi- as it is because 0hina has this culture of1 don't -et involved in anyone else's business1; 0uster says. :3 lot of these (ids /ho are (idnapped1 are ta(en in places /here there are people around. But people don't say anythin-.; !ost importantly1 child traffic(in- is a profitable business. Even doctors1 /ho are paid relatively little in 0hina1 can be tempted to *oin the trade. Dn 3u-ust1 an obstetrician in 6haan&i province /as arrested for sellin- ne/borns for 4215 . 6he deceived parents by tellin- them that their babies /ere too sic( to survive

after delivery. 6he had carried on this /ay for seven years1 and /as only cau-ht after a distrau-ht father climbed onto the roof of his house and threatened to *ump if police did not investi-ate. 0ritics are callin- for 0hina to penaliBe buyers of stolen children. >u Iincui1 an editor at the Global @imes1 /rote that 0hina must punish parents /ho buy stolen children1 thereby :curbin- supply as /ell as demand.; %Both traffic(ers and buyers must realiBe there is a heavy penalty for their actions.; =on't miss:

Dn 3mericaJ,ids for 6ale

By BOB HERBERT--Published: January 22, 1996 6ometimes you *ust have to s/allo/ hard and drin( another -in1" said the teen"a-ed prostitute in Ban-(o(1 @hailand. "D couldn't -et throu-h some ni-hts unless D /as drun(." Dt is possible but not easy to ima-ine lives more hideous than those of the -enerations of children /ho are fed li(e cheap fuel into @hailand's flourishin- se& industry. Dn some @hai villa-es1 -irls are dra--ed out of school as early as the si&th -rade and ta(en to the brothels of Ban-(o( and other centers of the se& trade. 3t $ 1 you are a /oman1" accordin- to a popular sayin- in Ban-(o('s red"li-ht district. "3t 2 1 you are an old /oman. 3t % 1 you are dead." @he demand for the youn- -irls seems limitless. Each year tens of thousands of se& tourists from Germany alone visit @hailand1 accordin- to the international children's advocacy -roup @erre des 'ommes. 3bout $ percent of the German se& tourists en-a-e in se& /ith minors1 the -roup said. @he traffic in very youn- -irls has been accelerated by the mista(en but /idespread belief that they are less li(ely to be infected /ith the 3D=6 virus. "'o/ /ould you li(e to marry a $7"year"old 3sian vir-inG" as(s a brochure put out by Peter 6tanton of PK6 Publications in 6anta !onica1 0alif. !r. 6tanton offers a travel -uide to the se&ual resorts of 6outheast 3sia and personaliBed "6e& @ours to @hailand." !r. 6tanton's brochure as(s1 "=id you (no/ you can actually buy a vir-in -irl for as little as 42 G" 3ndre/ Kachss is a la/yer and /riter from +e/ >or( /hose career is devoted to fi-htin- the e&ploitation of children. 'is latest novel is "Batman: @he Fltimate Evil1" in /hich the caped crusader -oes to /ar a-ainst the child se& industry in the fictional country of Fdon ,hai. Fdon ,hai is @hailand. !r. Kachss1 /hose /ife1 3lice1 is a former se& crimes prosecutor for the Lueens =istrict 3ttorney's office1 believes that not enou-h voices have been raised a-ainst the enforced prostitution of hundreds of thousands of children in 6outheast 3sia. "0ertainly @hailand is not the only country1" he said1 "but it is the international symbol of this problem. Dt has been a pedophile's paradise at least since Kietnam. Dt's a place /here children are disposable1 li(e ,leene&." !r. Kachss has earned the enmity of the @hai Government by insistin- that it has

condoned the e&ploitation of its children and by co"foundin- an or-aniBation called =on'tM BuyM @haiM1 /hich is callin- for a complete boycott of -oods made in @hailand. Dn a letter denouncin- the boycott1 3(rasid 3mataya(ul1 the char-e d'affaires at the @hai Embassy in Washin-ton1 told !r. Kachss that "a horrendous problem of this ma-nitude must ta(e time to solve." Dn an appendi& to !r. Kachss's novel1 the *ournalist =avid 'echler homes in on the -rim reality of the desperately poor children /ho are lured1 tric(ed and sometimes (idnapped into the se& trades: "!any are from small villa-es far from Ban-(o( "" so many1 in fact1 that some entire villa-es are devoid of youn- -irls . . . Once they are /arehoused in the brothels1 the captured children have this in common: @heir lives are completely controlled by their 'employers1' /ho often enforce their /ill /ith violence." !r. 6tanton of PK6 Publications indicated in a telephone conversation that increasinattention to the problem of child prostitution in @hailand /as havin- an effect. "Dt used to be easy to -et -irls under $H1" he said. +o/1 he said1 ">ou have -ot to be careful because the @hai police don't /ant any bad publicity1 and they don't /ant any ne/s media -oin- out there and findin- any tourists /ith youn- -irls." On the tours he arran-es1 !r. 6tanton said1 the client is hoo(ed up /ith a "private tour -uide" in Ban-(o(. @he tour -uide introduces the client to -irls1 /ho /ill be over $H1 he said. But if the client /ants someone youn-er1 he should tell the -uide1 he said1 and she /ould li(ely "ta(e you to some of the local @hai brothels." 3s for 3D=61 !r. 6tanton blithely insisted there is no need to /orry. 'e said1 "@here are a lot of researchers no/ /ho say '.D.K. is not the cause of 3D=61 and '.D.K. is not se&ually transmitted."