Don’t Take Candy From Strangers
There’s a black market for everything in China, and kids are no exception–especially when supply is restricted by the one-child policy.
So for years, there have been reports of kids getting abducted and sold for money, written up everywhere from Reuters to the LA Times. The Guardian even reported in 2007 that 190 kids were getting snatched every day.
But I guess that’s what happens when a kid fetches RMB18,000 (USD$2,626) on the open market. That might not sound like a lot, but the alternative–doing it the right way and getting a university education–only gets you a RMB3,762 (USD$551) starting monthly salary.
So anyway, it was great to see this headline last Friday: Child trafficking probe saves 2,169 kids. With 19 more were rescued Saturday.
Hopefully, that’ll help stem the tide a bit and prevent more edgy parents from lynching shady-looking book salesmen.
Postscript: Children are also sometimes born and sold (or even auctioned off online) by their parents willingly, often for large sums. Right or wrong? Hard to say, given the lack of central adoption processes and the poverty blanketing most of rural China.