China has been known for the rampant human trafficking trade, which however is no longer limited to the walls of the country. Chinese human traffickers have
extended their tentacles outside China in recent years, reveals research and news reports. They have been found tricking people from poor Asian nations to migrate to China in the name of jobs and then selling them for forced marriage or prostitution or slavery and other kinds of illegal activities.There are even horrific claims about such sold people being killed in China for organ harvesting.1
The recent development comes from Nepal where the local authorities have arrestedtwo Chinese nationals. Ten Nepalese were promised better jobs by these arrested Chinese nationals but were later forced to do illegal things.2Sharada Prasad Chaudhary, Superintendent of Police at Nepal’s Human Trafficking Investigation Bureau, said “Our investigation of the rescued women and girls has shown that most of the young women taken from Nepal to China as brides are sent are forced to take prostitution.”3
In 2019 too, Nepal Police arrested ten people for trafficking Nepalese girls on the pretext of marriage to China but in reality, used them as domestic workers and sex slaves.4The Nepalese Embassy in China has time and again rescued Nepalese victims that were trafficked to China.5Chinese traffickers often escape government radar as they avoid breaking rules, and follow procedures.“Although Chinese nationals take Nepali women by following all legal processes, these women are at high risk of being used as sex slaves or unpaid labourers,” said Anjana Shakya, chairperson of the Alliance Against Trafficking of Women and Children.6
Chinese traffickers carry out illegal human trade by posing as businessmen or workers of infrastructure projects China is building in different countries. Implementation of projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has seen many Chinese nationals coming to Pakistan regularly. Many cases of bride trafficking are reported through fraudulent marriages between girls from poor and minority backgrounds and Chinese men. These Chinese traffickers entered Pakistan as businessmen of companies that did not exist. They bought poor Pakistani girls for USD 3,500-5,000, according to a report by Brookings Institute.7
1-https://bitterwinter.org/bride-trafficking-china-and-pakistan/
2-https://www.nepalnews.com/s/nation/two-chinese-arrested-on-human-traffickingcharge
3-https://myrepublica.nagariknetwork.com/news/ten-held-for-trafficking-nepali-girls-forchinese-grooms-1/
4-https://kathmandupost.com/miscellaneous/2017/04/13/three-nepalis-rescued-fromchina
5-https://kathmandupost.com/national/2019/09/09/nepali-women-are-being-traffickedto-china-and-sold-as-wives
6-https://www.brookings.edu/wpcontent/uploads/2022/03/FP_20220317_bride_trafficking_afzal.pdf
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There are accusations that the Islamabad government chose business with China over justice for the affected and vulnerable girls from marginalised backgrounds. The prosecution has been insufficient and questionable, say social activists. While there are no government statistics, investigations by NGOs and news agencies revealed as many as 629 women especially vulnerable women from the Christian community were sold as brides to China in 2019.8When the issue of human trafficking by Chinese people saw uproar in Pakistan, authorities charged 52 Chinese traffickers in 2019. However, more than half were acquitted soon or granted bail and the opportunity to flee Pakistan.9
China’s one-child policy and preference for boys are largely responsible for human trafficking besides the country’s long history of human trade. The one-child policy led to a drop in the women population from the late 1980s as couples preferred a son if only one child was allowed. 10Selective abortion and female infanticide became rampant. 11 This caused a huge gender imbalance, leaving less number of females for the rising male population and leading to a surge in human trafficking.12Ill-fated people especially girls are trafficked from poor neighbouring countries including Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos. Even millions from the rural parts of Chinaare trafficked and sent into forced labour.13
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While the Chinese government and embassies have been issuing statements against human trafficking, the world’s second most powerful country has feeble laws to stop the illegal trade. One can be imprisoned for seven years in China for buying illegal plants but buying a human attract a jail term of just three years and that too is not enforced actively. 14 China did not have any punishment for human trafficking until 1997. “As long as inequality exists and the state does not do enough to act, human trafficking will continue,” said Beijing-based feminist activist Feng Yuan.
7-https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-pakistan-international-news-weekend-readslahore-c586d0f73fe249718ec06f6867b0244e
8-https://www.brookings.edu/wpcontent/uploads/2022/03/FP_20220317_bride_trafficking_afzal.pdf
9-https://theprint.in/go-to-pakistan/pakistan-chose-china-ties-over-justice-let-chinesesbride-traffickers-get-away-claims-report/879843/
10-https://www.brookings.edu/wpcontent/uploads/2022/03/FP_20220317_bride_trafficking_afzal.pdf
11-https://vc.bridgew.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2408&context=jiws
12-https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1333894/29-million-trapped-modern-dayslavery-china-30-million-worldwide
13-https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3167167/china-buying-traffickedwomen-and-children-gets-less-jail-tim
