Chinese Netizens Organize To Identify & Rescue Child Beggars

From Sohu:

“Photograph and Rescue Child Beggars” began with one mother asking for help finding her son

Photos of children uploaded

Recently, as long as you were on weibo [microblog] following the “Photograph and Rescue Child Beggars” official microblog account set up by Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Rural Development professor Yu Jianrong, you would have seen a long list of updates from this microblog every day you opened your weibo, with all of them being photos and information of child beggars on the streets posted by netizens throughout the country. According to this reporter’s rough calculations, amongst the photos and information of child beggars uploaded, there are a total of 50 child beggars from the Guangzhou area.

Searching for son information attracts netizen’s attention

Yesterday, Yu Jianrong expressed on a telephone interview with this reporter that “Photograph and Rescue Child Beggars” was first started because on January 17th, a mother asked him to help her by posting a microblog message searching for her missing child Yang Weixin. After posting the weibo message, it immediately attracted the attention of netizens, with one netizen claiming to have seen a child that resembled Yang Weixin begging in Xiamen at the beginning of 2010, even uploading a photo of the child begging. Afterward, the child’s family immediately rushed to Xiamen to search for the child’s whereabouts.

Yu Jianrong said: “After this, many netizens asked me to help post information about searches for children. So I created a dedicated ‘Photograph and Rescue Child Beggars’ weibo. I hope that through the power of netizens, mothers who have lost their children can find hope in this weibo.

On February 3rd, Professor Yu Jianrong posted on his Sina Weibo microblog account the following image, a collection of the photographs of child beggars and missing children submitted to him by Chinese netizens, including a graph at the bottom showing in which cities many of the photographs were taken. Along with this image was a status update by Yu Jianrong that reads:

[Photograph and Rescue Child Beggars] Developments 2: 1. Seven days after beginning, a total of 415 child beggar photographs have been received; 2. There have been parents who have recognized their children [in the photographs]; 3. The Public Security Bureau has placed a high level of attention [to this effort] and have dispatched police many times; 4. CCTV, Guangdong, and other media have reported [on our efforts]; 5. [Jet Li’s] One Foundation has expressed that they will financially aid in the development of a database and netizen rescue effort system. Please continue to gei li [do your best, impress everyone with your efforts].

From NetEase:

Netizens around the country take photos on the streets to rescue child beggars

A weibo [microblog] campaign against suspected child trafficking and to rescue child beggars started by Chinese Academy of the Social Sciences professor Yu Jianrong began on January 25th, appealing to microblog netizens to take and upload photos of child beggars they encounter on the streets, urging the police to take action, and within a short two weeks, nearly a thousand photographs have already been uploaded by netizens.

Comments from QQ:

腾讯佳木斯市网友:

The state should establish severe punishments to crack down upon human traffickers including sentencing human traffickers to death to bring peace and security to all the children in the world.

腾讯上海市网友:

Ignorant people will always be ignorant. Why can’t the police can’t detain child beggars and their companions/handlers when they see them and use DNA tests to ascertain the truth? Why waste time messing around with these weibo (I suspect person behind the weibo [Yu Jiangrong] just wants to become famous)? I really don’t understand why the state is this indifferent towards the phenomenon of child beggars.

腾讯铜仁地区网友:

Yeah, even netizens have begun taking action, but the government, just being a bunch of “qualified” cadres swinging their arms back and forth doing nothing, because sitting on the toilet without shitting is their specialty.

腾讯江门市网友:

Ever since the government got rid of death sentences for corrupt officials and human trafficking, China became a black society [a criminal underworld, a world of organized crime].

腾讯网友:

Today I too saw a woman with a child begging on the pedestrian overpass at the intersection of Cangbian Road and Dongfeng Road, the child sleeping on the overpass, probably only two or three years old, I couldn’t see the child’s face clearly. At the time, I even scolded the woman for allowing her child to suffer with her for her failure in life, but I didn’t imagine that the child could have been abducted. Now that I think about it, those heartless human traffickers should really be run over by cars, being so cruel, how could they do it, to those innocent children? From this day forward, I too will join this group of rescuing abducted children, take photos, post them onto weibo, so those children separated [from their parents] may return home soon.

腾讯阜阳市网友:

Human traffickers and their families should all die! Too despicable, I feel sad just thinking about those abducted children, the parents suffering even more each day, the state should heavily punish human traffickers! Make it so they will never have the guts to abduct children again!

腾讯网友:

Let us do what we can on weibo, working together. For the children, for the love of human nature.

腾讯深圳市网友:

These human traffickers should be shot, how can those who also have children of their own be so cruel…hope those abducted children can return home soon…

腾讯绍兴市网友:

Look at how developed countries don’t have the death penalty and yet they’re still more “harmonious” than China.
Torture doesn’t solve everything. It was because the Tang Dynasty governed with benevolence and righteousness than people worshiped/admired it.

腾讯网友:

Ding this up. Having the thought itself is a good thing.

腾讯唐山市网友:

Should we complain? Or should we go do something? Though there are some things in the world that are very difficult to change, as long as we contribute our own strength, no matter how difficult it is there is still a possibility.

腾讯北京市网友:

So sad. The strength of us ordinary common people is too small, though we care and our hearts ache. Hope the government will do something, that those who abduct children be sentenced to death. Then let’s see who dares to traffic children.

腾讯东莞市网友:

The question is why did 2 years have to pass before everyone learned about it.

腾讯中山市网友:

The country has 10 trillion in fiscal revenues a year, and yet several children can’t be rescued. Where is the blood and sweat money of the ordinary common people going? No wonder America is so arrogant!!!!!!!!!!!!!

腾讯梧州市网友:

I truly, truly very much want to help them, as every one of them should have a better tomorrow!

On Youku:

Popular Chinese video sharing website Youku today unveiled on their homepage a special “So Our Babies Can Go Home” page dedicated to videos of child beggars filmed by netizens around the country. A map on the page shows where various videos were recorded:

See also:

• “Photos Of Child Beggars” (EastSouthWestNorth)
• “Child Beggars and a Revolution of Digital Conscience” (ChinaGeeks)
• “Save The Boy!” (EastSouthWestNorth)
• Professor Yu Jianrong’s Sina Weibo account (Sina Weibo)

2010 February 11th UPDATE: More translated information about this story…

• “Inconvenient Facts For The Campaign to Liberate Abducted Children (EastSouthWestNorth)
• “Who Is Being Abducted And Sold Off?” (EastSouthWestNorth)
• “Stop Running And Think For A Moment” (EastSouthWestNorth)
• “For Those Who Want To Prohibit Parents From Taking Their Children To Beg” (EastSouthWestNorth)
• “Great Victory Declared On Behalf Of The ‘Take Chance Photos To Liberate Child Beggars’ Campaign” (EastSouthWestNorth)