Shanghai police are investigating an online advertisement for
the sale of babies that appeared on eBay's Eachnet site, the US
online auction house's China website, on October 16.
Baby boys were "going" at 28,000 yuan (US$3,453) each, while
girls carried a 13,000 yuan (US$1,603) price tag, according to
Eachnet's Tang Lei, a manager with the company.
With the username "Chuangxinzhe Yongyuan," which means
"innovator forever," the seller claimed that all the babies, who
were to come from Henan
Province, would be available within 100 days of birth.
According to Eachnet, the ad was registered in the late evening
of October 16.
Although no deals were struck, more than 50 people browsed the
posting before it was removed, including one who left a message of
enquiry.
There was no response to queries sent to the seller's registered
email address.
In the posting, Chuangxinzhe Yongyuan claimed the babies were
being sold to help China's millions of infertile couples.
Eachnet retracted the posting after they realized it was
advertising the sale of babies and reported the matter to local
police.
Police have released no details of their investigation.
According to Tang, the website automatically screens information
posted on it, but the word "baby" was not included as a forbidden
term because so many baby products are advertised on the site.
A practical joke?
Tang admitted the posting could have been a practical joke. If
not, whoever is behind the Chuangxinzhe Yongyuan username could
face years in prison or even the death sentence.
According to Chinese law, the abduction of children carries a
five-year prison sentence. In some cases, abduction with the
intention to sell a child can carry the death penalty. Anyone found
guilty of buying a baby can also be prosecuted.
In August this year, the Anfu Intermediate People's Court in Guizhou
Province convicted a gang of 45 people that abducted and sold
at least 60 children in 2003.
The seven main culprits were sentenced to death, four
accomplices were given reprieved death penalties and other gang
members received between five and 15 years in prison.
In January 2003, police in Anfu and Guiyang in Guizhou Province
began receiving reports of missing children. By mid July, 16
children had been reported missing in Anfu.
At around midnight on March 27, 2003, the gang broke into a
house in Wujiaguan Village in the Xixiu District of Anfu. They put
a knife to the throat of a woman surnamed Cao and abducted her
six-month-old baby.
Broken-hearted parents in Guiyang formed an association and
petitioned government departments for help. On October 11, 2003,
police in Anfu received a tip-off and arrested gang members the
following morning.
Investigations found that the ring had abducted 61 children,
mainly boys under five, over the previous 10 months, selling them
to buyers in Hebei
and Henan provinces.
Only 25 of the children were ever tracked down, and many of the
suspects are still at large.
(China Daily October 20, 2005)