A special exhibition displaying the portraits of lost children was held in Beijing to raise awareness of the tens of thousands of missing children across China. Li Dong has the details.

 

　　Portrait artist Li Yueling spent a year on these works in the aim of raising public awareness of the serious issue of missing children in China.

 

　　"After exhibiting the portraits in Beijing for two weeks, we're planning on displaying them in several other big cities like Guangzhou, Shanghai, Chengdu and Chongqing. We want the whole country to know how widespread the missing children epidemic is in China, and we must help the families suffering from this."

 

　　For some parents, such as Liu Quanwei, pictures are all that remain of their children.

 

　　"My daughter, Liu Ziying, disappeared in the city of Zhengzhou on October 8, 2009. She was playing outside my house, but ten minutes later she was gone. In order to find my child, I quit my job and searched across the country."

 

　　Although Liu was able to find the alleged kidnapper, the woman was released after only one year in prison due to a lack of evidence regarding the abduction of Liu's daughter. Liu feels helpless.

 

　　"I just want to know if my child is alive. I don't have any other expectations."

 

　　A special exhibition displaying the portraits of lost children was held in Beijing to raise awareness of the tens of thousands of missing children across China. [Photo: weibo.com]

 

　　Between 2009 and 2012, Chinese police rescued 54,000 children from abduction and trafficking.

 

　　In 2009, an online campaign against child abduction was launched to encourage people to view photos of lost children in the hopes of locating them. Many children were reunited with their families. The charity has since developed into an NGO to help parents find their missing children.

 

　　Professor Yu Jianrong of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences is one of the pioneers of the campaign.

 

　　"From a legal point of view, I suggest increasing the legal responsibility of those who buy abducted children. Buying abducted children is now illegal in China, but the punishment is still too light. As long as they do not mistreat the children and agreed to their subsequent rescue, the buyers are not punished."

 

　　A mother of a missing child says she hates child traffickers.

 

　　"Those who buy children should be seriously punished. If they didn't buy children, there wouldn't be so many people abducting our children."

 

　　Considering the difficulty of tracking the children, Professor Yu has suggested setting up a national DNA database for children.

 

　　"If we set up a DNA database when a child is born, and require this to be used in hospitals, schools as well as many other things, then it would be impossible to traffic children. Our country's current technology can fully achieve this."

 

　　The Lost Children exhibition began in Beijing on June 1, World Children's Day, and the exhibition will also move to other major cities across China.

 

　　For CRI, I am Li Dong.