Ways That Are Dark

Next year Beijing will be hosting both the Olympics and the Paralympic games. Most observers believe that prior to these international events, the government will clear the city’s streets of beggars So far, the Beijing government has refused to discuss what plans they have for their removal. An article written by John Ray for The Guardian reveals that many of the disabled children working as beggars in Beijing were sold into slavery.

In a country still in shock from this summer’s unprecedented public soul-searching over the slave labour used in brick factories, the sale of children, often disabled, to work as beggars is yet another scandal the authorities will have to tackle.

The article tells the story of Gao Zhou Zhou, a disabled girl sold into slavery who begs near Tiananmen Square. We first learn the story of how she came to be a beggar in Beijing:

It was three years ago when a man she calls ‘uncle’ came to her village. There was a cash transaction with her stepfather, who was promised the equivalent of £150 in instalments. In the land of the rampant capitalist, this was just another business deal.

After detailing her daily plight and toil, the reporter takes a trip to Zhou Zhou’s hometown, to visit the stepfather who sold her into slavery. Here is the result:

Zhou Zhou has pinned her hopes on her stepfather. She gives this message to take to him: ‘Please come and get me. My life here is so bitter.’

We track her stepfather down to a village in Henan, an hour’s flight south of Beijing and a world away from China’s economic miracle. This is dirt-poor country.

Gao Jie Liang, standing in his cramped and muddy farmyard, is slightly built and 5ft tall. No way could he stand up to ‘uncle’ - even if he wanted to. He seems to have no regrets, except to believe that he sold Zhou Zhou too cheaply. She was a burden, he says. She wanted to leave, and it is common for the parents of disabled children to offload them in this way.

The complete Guardian article is China’s disabled children are sold into slavery as beggars.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 23rd, 2007 at 1:36 pm and is filed under Child Labor. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.