Child Abduction

Southern China has a bit of a reputation for child abduction and slave labor. One reason is the presence of so many of the country's factories. This article doesn't explain what the children were being sold for, but it's either labor or sex.

Five people were given jail terms ranging from seven to 14 and a half years for abducting and trafficking eight children, all boys, in south China's Guangdong Province.

Tang Xianzhong, Li Wenquan, Hong Minghua and Wu Caiwan, the four culprits, were also fined 10,000 yuan (1,333 U.S. dollars), and Yang Hongqiong, their accomplice was fined 5,000 yuan, said Dongguan Intermediate People's Court.

Since August 2005, boys were reported to have been abducted in some villages of Dalang Town, Dongguan City, the court said.

On April 17, police from Dongguan caught Yang Hongqiong in eastern Fujian Province and rescued an eight-year-old boy.

In aid of Yang's clues, the police rescued another seven abducted boys and arrested the other four suspects.

According to court investigation, Tang, Li and Wu usually coaxed the children playing outside with snacks and then abducted them. They also induced several adolescents to abduct children and paid them a reward of 100 yuan to 1,000 yuan.

Yang and Hong were responsible for seeking buyers in Fujian and then selling the children for 13,000 yuan (about 1,733 U.S. dollars) each, the court said.

The fines aren't too impressive, so let's hope those 7 to 14 years in the Chinese prison system are as horrible as I imagine they would be.