Monthly Archives: August 2013

Surveillance camera was installed on Women’s Rights in China’s volunteer Changlan Su’s door

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August 18, 2013

Women’s Rights in China Reports:

Guangdong Nanhai government is finding numerous way to stop our volunteer. After three shifts 24/7 monitoring of activist Changlan Su, the government even installed high definition surveillance camera on Su’s door today. These governors behaved in a vicious and unrestrained way to intimidate activists Changlan Su and monitor all human rights lawyer. In this regard, as the South China land rights of villagers agent justice, I declare, whatever the authorities put up is useless. All the villager, lawyer and journalist activists will adhere to the problem until the day when they get the land back.

Changlan Su is a famous activist from Guangdong. In the recent years, she devoted herself in finding lost children and protecting bearing rights domestically. Ms. Su is also an experienced advocate for land rights. She led the Nanhai Sanshan villagers fight back their land indomitably and became the biggest headache of the local government. This monitor upgrade was an indication that the officials began to behave in a vicious and unrestrained way. Be alert: Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. Harboring crime is the greatest ravages of justice.
Changlan Su is a low-key real activist and contributed a lot in the protection of women’s rights and Children’s Rights. She is one of the most outstanding China women’s rights volunteer. She suffered prosecution and monitoring for her belief and her family also suffered baffling disasters. Volunteers like Su, sticking in the first-line, little-known, and having no external funding, are our main force to promote social change in China. She (they) is the true hero, true greatness!

Prosecuting the activist has become a legitimized means in China. No one knows who will be the next and what kind of tragedy will happen. This protection of the natural right has become violent because of the government’s greed. The profit-driven government is operating at the cost of depriving basic human rights, but the history would eventually liquidate these brutal fragment left in the lens.

 

American Friends Visit to WRIC the Tongcheng Aid Center

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By Tan Chuensheng,  WRIC’S a volunteer 

In the countryside of Tongcheng, Anhui Province, the abandonment of female infants is a widespread problem. The latest incident happened in June of this year. Near where the girl Shi Jieming was abandoned eighteen c. On the afternoon of  August 18th, after Jeremy, an American Christian magazine editor interviewed Shi Jieming in Hefei, Anhui, we visited the Tongcheng nunnery where many orphans lived. Outside of Jeremy, there were three other American friends: Steven of the Clinton Foundation, Andrew who taught at Shanghai Huadong Zhengfa University visiting from Yale, and Mr. Lin. Our translator Ms. Qiu and I accompanied them.
As soon as we passed the highway tollbooth we saw Master Xinkong waiting for us. Following her motorcycle to Shuixian Convent, we saw the girls who were already assembled there with Master Xindu, about twenty in all. Jie Ming was at Hefei. The baby Zongyuan was still in the hospital. Three other children couldn’t come for other reasons.
Jeremy, an American Christian magazine editor interviewed Shi Jieming in Hefei, Anhui.
Shuixian Nunnery was newly built. Although construction was still going on the periphery, in my opinion, it was the prettiest monastic building in the Tongcheng region. Our appointment was originally set at Old Lingquan. I asked Master Xinkong why it was changed to Shuixian. The answer was that when governmental authorities heard that foreigners were going to visit the orphans, they considered Old Lingquan’s dilapidated conditions would have embarrassed the country’s image. My  purpose of visiting Old Lingquan in the first place was to show the American friends the daily hardscrabble the girls had to go through (Master Shengying alone raised six girls at Old Lingquan), while Shuixian had housed no orphans. Alas, government has its own considerations. Commands from the government we had no choice but to follow. National interests override personal judgements.
Jeremy was very kind and attentive to the children. On the way to Tongcheng, I warned the Americans that the children were almost all introspective and reluctant to talk to strangers. So Jeremy mostly asked Master Xinkong about the children’s conditions, similar to the way he interviewed Jieming and me. Master Xinkong had never had contacts with foreign visitors before. So she was a bit hesitant in her conversation. She did not want to jeopardize the children’s funding or to impact the “nation’s image”, asking me from time to time how to answer the questions.
The children were all dressed very neatly. I could see the real reason without Master Xinkong’s explanation—the government’s image, again. The explanation I offered Jeremy was that the children’s clothing all came from donations of the city residents. Local households, because of the only child policy, had a lot of fairly new and fashionable leftovers. Shi Fuyuan of Fuyuan nunnery had with her several kids she had rescued who had been seriously malnourished, who at thirteen still looked seven or eight. Jeremy took her photograph. The children were all very obedient. The nuns told them to queue up. Each received a “red packet” of gifts from WRIC. Jeremy was photographed with the children in a group.
In the hour we spent together, the children remained standing, quiet and orderly. When we walked out of Shuixian Nunnery, they also came out to say goodbye. We did not want the kids to get burnt under the high sun, but couldn’t persuade them otherwise and walked alongside our care for a distance. As I looked back while we were driving away, I wanted to tell them, “you beautiful girls, born into misfortune, I still believe you have bright and happy futures.”
Next we arrived at Tongcheng Hospital. Master Xindu led us to the pediatric ward. When I saw the baby as she was brought in by the doctors, I could notice she had already grown a lot since I last saw her. Her dark eyes were flickering curiously here and there. Her arms, too, flailed around playfully. The doctor told Jeremy that when the baby was rescued, she weighed barely 1100 gram (2.4 pounds). She was six pounds now, and could leave the hospital in several days. Jeremy asked if there was any sickness. None were discovered, but there would have to be another comprehensive check before she could leave. I was concerned about medical costs and asked for the total, if the hospital could waive a certain amount. The doctor answered that because this was a charity case, the hospital would be able to reduce some fees. But as a business enterprise, necessary payments must be made. The total wouldn’t be known until when the baby would be ready to leave.
After our departure from the hospital, Jeremy proposed visits to some other monasteries to see the actual living spaces of the children. Considering that it was promised the American friends would visit the orphans in Old Lingquan before they came to China, I decided to bring them there to see the place of six of the children at Old Linquan. Besides, it was close by.
Children  received a “red packet” of gifts from WRIC. Jeremy was photographed with the children in a group.
Old Lingquan’s grounds were still covered with construction materials. The new building still lacked any fixtures. Master Shengyin put away two dogs as she saw us coming. I straightaway led Jeremy to the upstairs children’s dormitories. Six of them had shared three rooms. Beds, desks, and much of everything else were old and broken down. The windows were covered with stiff cardboard. Master Shengyin told us that the building was financed with donations from local lay devotees. Money for fixtures was still up in the air. The oldest of the children had decided to go into religion and was now at Buddhist academy. She thanked the foreign visitors for the assistance on behalf of the five still remaining. Otherwise some of the girls might not have continued their education. She kept thanking us in her hard to understand Tongcheng dialect all while we were there.
I did not know what the foreign friends thought about the whole thing on the other side of the language barrier. Perhaps I could only wait for Jeremy’s articles after he returned to America. This visit by influential American friends to the orphans at the invitation of WRIC not only served as a verification, but also in my humble opinion, was far more important if there could be more assistance from charitable organizations. It was not a trifling task to sponsor more than twenty children through their schooling. I wish my government could provide more satisfactory help so we wouldn’t have to rely on foreign aid. Children, after all, are the future of the country.
Four American friends visit to the nunnery in Tongcheng China.

Union Square event 2013: WRIC Announced the Publication of “Shao’s Orphan”

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Women’s Rights in China’s volunteer:  Zhang Yujun       Translator by  Cindy Lin

On July 27, 2013, Women’s Rights in China exhibited a massive Missing Children in China exhibition for display in New York City’s Union Square Park.  The event exhibited hundreds of photos of missing Chinese children. These photos were arranged to appeal to the American public’s growing concern about the child trafficking problem in the People’s Republic of China. The hope is that the U.S. government will stress this matter more in the US-China human rights dialogue. In the PRC, about 20 million children are trafficked annually, but China’s government does not highlight any specific number children who are missing due to child-trafficking. The US 2013 Annual “Trafficking in Persons Report ” documents that trafficking in China is very serious and placed China on Tier 3 where they now faces possible sanctions.

During the July 27 event, WRIC announced that they are working on the English translation and publication of the book “Shao’s Orphans” written by the prominent investigative reporter Pang Jiao Ming (pseudonym: Shangguan Jiao Ming). Shangguan Jiao Ming continues to brave death threats because the contents of his book include information about officials from Hunan Zhaoyang Shi Jisheng. The book documents “illegal births” as the PRC’s reason for forcibly taking away many children from low-incomes families. The act of taking these children away is used as an means of dispensing with the “fines” that go along with these “illegal birth.” If the parents are not issued a government permit to give birth to a child, the child is “illegal” and the parents are required to pay a fine.  This book documents many accounts of “illegal birth” fines that are unable to be paid, and result in children being, in effect, sold to PRC government orphanages. These government orphanages can and often to turn around and demand more than $30,000 dollars per child from adoption organizations in the US and other Western countries. Foreigners’ expensive adoptions indirectly stimulate China’s human trafficking market.

China’s missing children epidemic is the resulted of the PRC’s One-Child Policy; this wave of missing children is like a malignant tumor.  The “domestic exports” profits from the chain of families that were targeted due to the egregious policy. This causes everything to be out of control.  This interdependent, vicious cycle, continues to make many parents in China very angry at the government, especially as the number of missing children continues to grow.

Jing Zhang stated, “The government orphanage in Hunan, Shaoyang has dozens of children who are brought there because their parents were unable to afford the “illegal birth” fines.  We recently learned that about 15 of these children have been brought to the United States through adoption services, even though each child has a Daddy and a Mommy back in China.”

“Shao’s Orphan” author investigated the “illegal birth fine,” the victims’ families, as well as government orphanages. These orphanages have even been known to erase the child’s identity information, thus making the whole process more expensive for foreigners to adopt children. The Chinese-language version “Shao’s Orphans” has not been published in Mainland China. WRIC hopes to publish an English version of it to increase international concern, especially among American adoptive families. WRIC is raising funds to publish the English version of this important book.

The photos displayed at the July 27th event were collected from all over China by WRIC’s volunteers in China. Many of the volunteers are also parents of missing children. They continue to form self-help groups with the sole purpose of finding their missing children. Despite their efforts, they have not received any relevant help from the government; on the contrary, their activities are often seen as threats to the government and their members are often arrested by local PRC government officials.

One parent who had adopted three children attended the Union Square’s photo exhibition to discuss her concerns about the status of China’s missing children. That parent said she adopted three children, two girls from a government orphanage in Hunan Hengyang, China about 16 years ago, and one boy from Vietnam. She cautiously asked: “What would the biological parents do if they found their child to be in the United States or some other country?” WRIC Founder Jing Zhang responded:  “The Hengyang orphanage have been revealed many times of children scandal. These scandals involved selling children. It is the parent’s greatest hope that their child did not enter the world of child trafficking. But do not worry, we asked a lot of missing children’s parents these questions, their answer is always the same: We only want to know that the child is still alive and safe. If they know this much, they can stop looking. If the child is in the United States or any Western countries, the parents will not go to claim them and take them back to China. The parents will feel blessed for their child, and they can finally have some peace of mind.

Jing Zhang discussed how in early July, she was contacted by four families from China who have missing 13-year-old girls. They complained that the PRC police have enough surveillance for political dissidents but not enough resources to protect their families and find their missing children. 

“The PRC has not put an end to the unconscionable practice of men spending 50,000 Yuan to “buy” virgin girls who have been kidnapped from their families,” stated WRIC’s Jing Zhang. “This practice continues to escalate along with the growing number of underage girls who are taken from their families early in life.  To rule out the government’s role in this as a coincidence would be too far-fetched. We all know that China’s government possesses sufficient resources to prevent such crimes.  The PRC’s Public Security Bureau carefully follows bloggers, labor leaders, religious believers, and democracy seekers – but the same government does not make a serious attempt to prevent these crimes against young children. On the surface, China’s government purports to promote anti-trafficking effort by making some funding available, but with little success.”


WRIC’s July 27th event at New York’s Union Square Park was a great success, lasting over 6 hours. WRIC volunteers spent the day under New York’s summer sun handing out leaflets to promote advocacy for the missing children while answering many questions the public had about these issues. Volunteer Zhang Yujun’s 5-year-old child joined the adults to help form greater awareness. She was noted as the youngest and most driven WRIC volunteer. She distributed leaflets faster than the adults.

WRIC’s banner of about 500 pictures of missing children in China in Union Square, NY
Some of WRIC’s volunteers.
Mother and daughter volunteers
Founder, Jing Zhang during an interview with reporter.
An volunteer explaining our cause to a passerby


14 female lawyer ask to publicize the “social fostering fee”

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WRIC report:

On July 31st, 2013, Youshui Wu, along with other lawyers from Zhejiang sent letters to the 2013 July the Department of Birth Control and Department of Finance in  31 provinces, asking for publicizing the income and expenses of the “social fostering fee” and other relevant information. Until August 30th, they received data of 2012 annual collection of “social fostering fees” amount from 17 provinces. There was 16.5 billion in total. The other 14 provinces either didn’t reply or refused to publicize the balance. None of those provinces choose to make payments details public.

“Social fostering fees” is the new term for ‘fines”, beginning during the early 80’s. On September 1st, 2002, the State Council promulgated the “China social fostering fee collection and management methods”. The State Family Planning Commission explained that this charge is “economic compensation” to the society, not a fine, because the exceeding birth population occupies more public resources.

In July 5, 2012, 15 domestic laws, population scholars jointly submitted an amendment proposal to the National People’s Congress and its Standing Committee. They called on the comprehensive revision of “population and family planning law”, lifting restrictions on reproductive rights of citizens, the abolition fertility approval system and the retraction of “social fostering fee” system.

“The constitution” and “administrative licensing law”, should be clear that the bearing right is a basic human right. On this basis, they need to abolish of the birth approval system and the social fostering fee. This can not only indicate the protection for the basic human rights, but also avoid the unfair levy social fostering fee.
So far, not only the local government hasn’t disclosure enough information, but the audit department also did not make any special audit.