China police raids rescue 1,100 trafficked women


BEIJING (AP) — Chinese police rescued 1,130 abducted foreign women in the second half of last year in coordinated operations with five Southeast Asian countries, the Ministry of Public Security said Friday.


"In recent years, some lawless locals and foreigners have conspired to abduct women from neighboring countries and sell them as wives in China," public security spokesman Guo Lin said at a news conference in Beijing. "It's a serious violation of these women's rights and interests."

Demand for foreign brides in China has mounted in recent years. It's fueled by Beijing's one-child policy, which skewed China's gender balance for decades before the government changed it three years ago. Many men in the Chinese countryside struggle to find wives, especially if they lack a car, house, or well-paying job.






"Cooperation is a lynchpin of the success of police raids," Vu said. "It's key... that the Chinese police weren't going in blindly, they had information on the missing victims and where they could be found."


Advocacy groups outside China say Chinese police are responsive to trafficking cases once they're notified. However, enforcement can be spotty, with reports of officers failing to take action because of language barriers or concern over getting buyers and agents into trouble.


Vu says broader changes are needed to stem trafficking, such as greater public awareness, more social services and openness to working with advocacy groups — both to provide more support for victims and to reduce demand for brides.

"Law enforcement plays a part in it, but it's not just about finding victims," Vu said. "If there was less demand, we wouldn't have this trade."


Associated Press researcher Yu Bing contributed to this report.