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China to Britain - Censor your TV
It would appear that Beijing is not content with censoring its own media, and is now seeking to interfere in the internal affairs of Western countries, with the Chinese embassy in Britain demanding that a program displaying China in an unfavorable light be prohibited from airing on public access television.
For those of you whom are not familiar with Domestic British media, Channel 4 is an independent public service broadcaster, and one of the world's premier producer of investigative documentaries. Additionally Ofcom is a media watchdog. It primarily acts "after the fact"; dealing with violations of standards and practices after complaints have been received, rather than preempting them. Its censorship powers are limited. Acts of censorship and censure carried out by Ofcom are a matter of public record, and are open to full scrutiny.
From the pen of journalist Richard Brooks:
Chinese bid to stop ‘kids for sale’ film
The Chinese embassy in London is trying to stop Channel 4 broadcasting a documentary about the trade in stolen children in China.
The embassy is considering seeking an injunction to try to prevent China’s Stolen Children being shown on October 8. It has also been in touch with Ofcom, the broadcasting regulator, and is expected to write to Channel 4’s board.
The Chinese are angry that they are not being given an advance screening of the documentary, which claims that the trade in stolen children is widespread. C4 says it is not its policy to show such programmes in advance.
However, the programme makers have provided the embassy with a three-page letter detailing their evidence. Professor Kevin Bales, a consultant to the United Nations programme on people trafficking, says in the film that at least 70,000 young children a year are sold or stolen in China.
Zhao Shangsen, press counsellor to the embassy, wrote to the programme makers saying: “The programme is deeply flawed, ignorant and simplistic.” He denies any link between child trafficking and China’s one-child policy, pointing to trafficking in other countries which do not have state-imposed birth control.
Shangsen wrote that China has made progress in trying to end child trafficking, which was on a far smaller scale than the programme suggested. “There is no good in finger-pointing at China,” Shangsen wrote to C4.
The programme makers filmed undercover in China, speaking to parents who had had a child stolen or had sold a child, and to traffickers. More boys are taken than girls because they will grow up to earn more money. Most are taken for childless couples, although some are sold into prostitution.
Channel 4 has already conceded a right of reply at the end of the programme to the Chinese embassy.
China’s Stolen Children is produced by the same team that made The Dying Rooms and Return to the Dying Rooms in the mid1990s which showed that many second-born children were dumped in orphanages and left to die.
The programmes led to a diplomatic row between China and the Tory government. Since then, trade links between Britain and China have strengthened considerably.
With the Olympics in Beijing next year, China’s human rights and environmental record will be scrutinised in the West.
China watchers have noted with some irony that Shangsen failed to acknowledge the fundamental differences between the Chinese child trade and the child trade in regions such as Africa.
Child trafficing outside of China crosses both genders and covers all age groups, with children being trafficed for three primary reasons; 1) Use as labor, 2) Prostitution, 3) Use as child soldiers. However, the child trade in China primarily covers males, with younger males being favored, and trafficed children primarily end up being sold to son-less couples as part of an illegal adoption racket.
In situations where Chinese children are sold into prostitution or forced labor, they are often not abducted but are instead sold by family members or guardians.
"In situations where Chinese children are sold into prostitution or forced
labor, they are often not abducted but are instead sold by family members
or guardians."
May your ancestors forgive you for having such a tongue in your head.
ABC is right. It is not only happen in China but also other countries.
Poverty knows no borders. Sometime the very poor have no choice and it
happens all over the world. Even in the “rich” west it happens. But it
usually involve with parents that are drug addicts and almost always
involve prostitution.
<b>I apologize for spamming but could not find an e-mail</b>
It's interesting how there have been absolutely no reports about the
contents of Channel 4 's program on child slavery / human trafficking in HK
media. Perhaps either it was censored by the pro BJ group if they knew it.
OR it was kept quiet for the sake of foreign journalists' safety because
some local media don't want to raise the attention of foreign journalists
working in China "secretly" to produce documents that would shame the
country??
On the issue of stolen children, my Chinese friend from Shanghai
used to get annoyed back in uni in the UK whenever there were news about
the missing 4 year old Madeleine on TV . She asked me, " why is she given
so much attention??? if only this child is Chinese in mainland she might
only get mentioned once ! Aren't there any missing or stolen child in the
UK right now !!???" Kind of shocked to hear THAT kind of comment but
anyway, it appears that this is the kind of typical attitude towards
missing child because it is so common and widespread in China
I don't think that Channel 4 has any real presence in HK. None of their
channels were available on cable las time I looked. It's probably more like
nobody in HK is mentioning it because nobody has heard of it. Channel 4
doesn't have a very big international presence.