Chinese Hunger for Sons Fuels Boys’ Abductions

[babylonsister]

Chinese Hunger for Sons Fuels Boys’ Abductions

Du Bin for The New York Times

A picture of Peng Gaofeng's 4-year-old son, who was kidnapped in front of his shop.

By ANDREW JACOBS
Published: April 4, 2009


SHENZHEN, China — The thieves often strike at dusk, when children are playing outside and their parents are distracted by exhaustion.

Du Bin for The New York Times

Deng Huidong’s son was stolen from her daughter’s grip.


Deng Huidong lost her 9-month-old son in the blink of an eye as a man yanked him from the grip of his 7-year-old sister near the doorway of their home. The car did not even stop as a pair of arms reached out the window and grabbed the boy.

Sun Zuo, a gregarious 3 1/2-year-old, was lured off by someone with a slice of mango and a toy car, an abduction that was captured by police surveillance cameras.

Peng Gaofeng was busy with customers when a man snatched his 4-year-old son from the plaza in front of his shop as throngs of factory workers enjoyed a spring evening. “I turned away for a minute, and when I called out for him he was gone,” Mr. Peng said.

These and thousands of other children stolen from the teeming industrial hubs of China’s Pearl River Delta have never been recovered by their parents or by the police. But anecdotal evidence suggests the children do not travel far. Although some are sold to buyers in Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam, most of the boys are purchased domestically by families desperate for a male heir, parents of abducted children and some law enforcement officials who have investigated the matter say.

The demand is especially strong in rural areas of south China, where a tradition of favoring boys over girls and the country’s strict family planning policies have turned the sale of stolen children into a thriving business.

Su Qingcai, a tea farmer from the mountainous coast of Fujian Province, explained why he spent $3,500 last year on a 5-year-old boy. “A girl is just not as good as a son,” said Mr. Su, 38, who has a 14-year-old daughter but whose biological son died at 3 months. “It doesn’t matter how much money you have. If you don’t have a son, you are not as good as other people who have one.”

more...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/world/asia/05kidnap.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

[Deja Q]

1. “A girl is just not as good as a son,”

I'm supposed to feel an emotion about the article or cause, because...?

Women are damn well valuable to this world. For a LOT of reasons, and not just because without women there'd be no males...

[babylonsister]

3. I didn't post it to elicit any emotion from anyone.

Just wanted to share what's going on in China. :shrug:

fwiw, I think their reasoning is twisted, too, but that's the way it's been there for a long time.

[Deja Q]

5. Please forgive me;

my vitriol was aimed at their system that seems to pride sexism. I made it sound like I was annoyed at you; that was not my intention. I am sorry if I had upset you personally.

:pals:

[babylonsister]

11. I'm not upset. No problem. nt

[Mari333]

2. Patriarchal bullshit, take two. nt

[Deja Q]

4. More like sexism taken to a very crude extreme.

[SoCalDem]

7. Perhaps you should write a complaint letter to the Times, then

Because YOU think it's sexist crap, does not change the fact that it is happening, and it is news :)

[Deja Q]

10. Are you implying it isn't sexist?

[SoCalDem]

12. never said it wasn't..

1. a linked news article is posted
2. people attack the "messenger"
3. I point out that the article is true & a valid article
4. I do not control Chinese policy
5. I do not investigate chinese kidnappings
6. Am I required to "rate" every article as sexist? or not sexist? I musta-missed-that-memo

May I offer you a coffee:)

[Mari333]

9. hatred of women

is still so prevalent in every society. I have been studying it all of my life. mostly just trying to figure out why , because I ran into it so much in my own life.
its either blatant, or subtle.

[SoCalDem]

6. Shortsighted and selfish..

China already has a shortage of marriageable young women for all the young frustrated men who find themselves too poor to attract a mate.. and since women are the ones who tend to the elderly, these people who want a son so badly will find themselvesd with no one to care for them in their old age..

Of course a shitload of single, angry young men makes for a ready * willing military :grr:..

Thise cute little boys will not remain litle.. they will grow up and want a woman...

[Deja Q]

8. Who needs military conquest when an economy will do?

Besides, all this property - too good to destroy, you see. And it's cheaper and less risky to the environment than using a neutron bomb anyway.

[izquierdista]

13. And if the son turns out to be gay??

What then, Mr. Su?

I didn't think so. Maybe you should accept people for who they are, not what you want.