Pearl Briefing | Orphan's seizure by officials after wellwishers gave millions exposes child welfare shortcomings
Guangxi local officials who let a boy fend for himself for years suddenly claim to be his guardians after well-wishers donate millions
The story of an orphan snatched away this week from a Shenzhen school by officials who neglected him for years sparked an uproar.
Yang Liujin, a 14-year-old boy from an impoverished minority county in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, lost his father when he was six, and was soon abandoned by his mother. The grandparents who were left to care for him died four years ago. Since then, Liujin had lived alone with no help from anyone bar a migrant worker cousin who sent him 500 yuan a year as pocket money. The boy foraged wild plants and caught fish to survive.
His plight surfaced late last month after he was featured on a Guangxi television channel. A week later, the Cambridge International Institute in Shenzhen tracked him down and offered him a place to live and study after obtaining consent from the boy's cousin.
At the same time, more than 5 million yuan (HK$6.3 million) in donations flowed in from around the country. Suddenly, a lot of people wanted to be associated with the boy, including the local government officials in Guangxi who had neglected him for so long.
Last Friday, officials from De'e township, along with his migrant worker cousin, turned up in Shenzhen to take Liujin home "to sort out the donation matters" - prompting an outcry.
Liujin made it clear he did not want to go back to Guangxi, telling the that he finally had a home and friends in Shenzhen. His teachers tried their best to keep him there but the cousin and officials claimed they were his guardians and it was their right to act on his behalf. Liujin left on Monday after negotiations between the school and the officials broke down.
