kidnapping

We spotted this alarming news on China Briefing via BeijingCafe:

Foreign schoolchildren are the potential new targets in child kidnapping cases following an incident at one of Beijing’s luxury compounds this past weekend. On Saturday afternoon at approximately 4:30 p.m., the student was outside the side exit of the Yosemite Villa Estate and a man, unknown to her, came towards her and gave her a hug. She pushed him away but he then attempted to lift her up and drag her into his car. Fortunately a guard and a taxi driver stepped forward to help her and she safely returned home. The incident has been reported to the police for further investigation ... The suspect is described as a 30-40 year old Chinese man of average height and build, short (buzz) haircut, frame-less glasses, wearing a dark-colored jacket and pants, and driving a small dark-colored car.

• Read more

For over a year now editor, blogger, musician and Beijing resident Charles Custer has been working on a distinctly important documentary, Living with Dead Hearts, that focuses on the plight of kidnapped children in China - an issue that is especially relevant given the recent news of the adopted Hubei orphans who were allegedly taken from their birth parents against their will.

• Read more

Those of you who keep a good China blogroll have probably heard of Chinageeks.org, where founder Charles Custer works to provide a community of people interested in China with deeper analysis of the country’s here and now.

For the last year or so, Custer’s also been hard at work on a new documentary film, Living With Dead Hearts, which takes a close look at kidnapping in China and how affected families cope or try to fight back.

If you want to know more about the kidnapping issue itself, check out Custer's recent article on Foreign Policy, as well as case studies of missing children and their families here. As for the documentary, I for one am nervous. This is the kind of subject that makes me want to cry like a baby and kick someone in the groin repeatedly - very strange mix of emotions. We’ll have to wait until Custer and his team finish shooting and editing before we can actually see it, but for now the director himself is taking questions.

• Read more