Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Take My Daughter, Please

Do you remember Duan Yueneng, the  Chinese trafficker for whom baby selling was the family business? Well, NPR's Marketplace has interviewed him, and here's the back story, a Reporter's Notebook piece about it:
"Do you want to take my daughter?"

Convicted baby trafficker Duan Yueneng uttered those words moments after I stepped into his apartment to interview him. As far as I could tell (and my assistant Cecilia Chen next to me), Mr. Duan was not kidding. His daughter, by the way, stood about five feet away. This man has been busted for selling Chinese baby girls, and he's trying to offload his own child. I declined
The radio report can be read or listened to at this link.

The report is about the 2005 Hunan scandals, but it certainly is relevant now.  One disturbing thing from the report: "We got one orphanage director on the phone. She told us she's willing to pay $150 for a healthy baby girl."  Doesn't sound like the baby-buying program has ended, huh?
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5 comments:

  1. Jeff and MadelineMay 5, 2010 at 8:15 PM

    Demand creates supply.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownMay 5, 2010 at 10:38 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Research-China.OrgMay 5, 2010 at 10:40 PM

    The $150 quotation by the director understates the problem. As the Hunan scandal was in full swing, the CCAA told all orphanage directors that they were allowed to pay 1,000 ($150) yuan for babies. So if anyone asks a director, they will openly admit to paying 1,000 yuan because they know the CCAA will protect them.

    In reality, most orphanages pay much more than that. Many orphanages in Jiangxi Province pay upwards of $1,000, or 6,000 yuan. But no director will admit that openly.

    The Hunan orphanages were literally the tip of the iceberg. Even today a majority of children adopted from China originate in orphanages that have baby-buying programs.

    Brian

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousMay 6, 2010 at 9:47 AM

    That's quite a sweeping generalization you're making, Brian. I'd like to know what evidence you have and assumptions you have made in order to substantiate the claim that:

    "Even today a majority of children adopted from China originate in orphanages that have baby-buying programs."

    Sue (aka anonymous)

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousMay 6, 2010 at 1:04 PM

    Where I struggle is if we are to believe that trafficking for the purpose of IA is so widespread, then how do we explain the slowdown of 4+ years and the program essentially morphing into a primarily SN program?

    (Karen)

    ReplyDelete