Child-Theft Scams Plague China's Parents: Thousands kidnapped for profit.

[Thom Little]

The reasons for the terrible growth industry in child trafficking are as varied as they are disturbing. In a country that earns millions of dollars a year from foreign adoptions, some children end up abroad. Others remain in the country, especially in rural China, where having a son is still seen as a must for inheritance, carrying on the family line and tending relatives' graves. But girls are also in demand as wives in areas where men significantly outnumber women, as caregivers for older relatives and for families that already have boys.

In the worst cases, activists and nongovernmental groups say, some are forced to work as prostitutes, maids or in begging rings.

China often balks at releasing embarrassing statistics, including the number of its youngest citizens abducted in front of schools, on streets and in busy markets. But experts say the problem is growing despite repeated efforts by the government to crack down on traffickers. China has disclosed that it rescued 3,488 abducted children last year, according to the official New China News Agency. Experts say those children are only a fraction of those lost. As the Cheng case suggests, many are not even recorded.

The government has another incentive to downplay the problem: lucrative overseas adoptions. The United States and other Western countries refuse to allow adoptions involving baby-selling.

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"Among the U.S. adoptive community, there's almost a sense of freaking out over this," said Brian Stuy, an American adoption activist who heads Research-China.Org. "Everyone adopts with the idea these are orphans needing a home. Even the hint they have families back in China, that baby-buying may be involved, is a big problem."


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-childsnatch1jan01,0,4305055.story?coll=la-home-headlines