China's top court lauds decline in child-related cases

Thanks to persistent judicial efforts, the crime of trafficking children through theft and abduction is currently sporadically being reported, China's top court said ahead of International Children's Day on Sunday.

"Once rampant, the crimes of child trafficking and abduction have generally been on a decline since 1992, except for a brief resurgence from 1997 to 2000," the Supreme People's Court revealed on Friday while issuing a report on minor protection by rule of law.

It noted that courts nationwide have upheld a "zero-tolerance" stance against criminals who harm children, with particularly severe punishments for those who commit murder, sexual assault, abduction, or abuse of minors.

Early this year, for example, Yu Huaying, who abducted and trafficked 17 children for financial gain between 1993 and 2003, was executed by a court in Guizhou province after the top court approved her death sentence.

In another case in Chongqing, a father who threw his two children out of a high-rise apartment window in 2020, along with his girlfriend who had encouraged him, were also executed in 2024 after their death penalties were approved by the top court.

Additionally, Chinese courts also harshly punished adults who lured minors, particularly girls under the age of 14, into sending explicit photos, and then used those pictures to blackmail, or even sexually abuse or rape them.

The top court has emphasized that judges across the country should impose occupational bans on individuals harming children to prevent such crimes from happening. It has also called for greater attention to the privacy protection and mental health of minor victims.

China's judicial effort in child protection has continuously improved over the past four decades. In 1984, its first juvenile tribunal was established in Shanghai, leading to a significant decrease in recidivism rates among minors. The approach was quickly expanded across the country.