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DE RUEHGZ #0463/01 2150917
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 030917Z AUG 09
FM AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU
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INFO RUEHGZ/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE 0214
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0626
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 0147
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 0208
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RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC 0197

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 GUANGZHOU 000463 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
STATE FOR EAP/CM, G/TIP, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KTIP SOCI ELAB CH
SUBJECT: Trafficking Women and Children: A Perspective from the 
Guangdong Women's Federation and Public Security Bureau 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED -- NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: The Guangdong Women's Federation and Public 
Security Bureau are combining resources with other government 
agencies to combat the trafficking of women and children. 
Authorities are hesitant to say where these women and children end 
up, claiming that the women "mostly become farmers' wives," while 
acknowledging that younger children are sometimes sold to childless 
families.  According to both organizations, insufficient resources 
and lack of awareness, particularly among the large migrant worker 
population, continue to be obstacles.  Although the Public Security 
Bureau has received media criticism for its handling of trafficking 
cases, it claims it does not have the legal tools necessary to be 
fully effective.  End Summary. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
Efforts by the GDWF to Combat Trafficking 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) The Guangdong Women's Federation (GDWF), established in 
1954 to improve the welfare of women and promote gender equality, 
has anti-trafficking programs in three areas: prevention, legal aid, 
and cooperation with other agencies.  According to Gao Suisheng, 
Director of the Department of Women's Rights and Interests at the 
GDWF, the floating population in Guangdong accounts for one-fifth of 
the entire migrant worker population in China (estimated at 140 
million), and women account for 55 percent.  Since a large 
percentage of human trafficking victims are female migrant workers 
and children of migrant workers, the GDWF does not delineate a 
breakdown between trafficking in women and trafficking in children, 
said Gao. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The GDWF has launched various programs with the support of 
social organizations to prevent human trafficking.  Under the 
leadership of Guangdong Vice Governor Lei Yulan, the GDWF is 
coordinating efforts with other provincial departments to 
participate in a United Nations program to prevent labor 
trafficking, said Gao.  Her organization also works with the Foshan 
Women Entrepreneurs Association to provide jobs to female workers, 
she added.  "Spring Rain," another GDWF-sponsored program in place 
for the past three years, involves the distribution of handouts at 
train stations and long-distance bus stations on measures to prevent 
human trafficking.   According to Gao, a total of 1,100,000 handouts 
have been distributed, and more than 100,000 people have benefited 
from GDWF's consulting services provided through this project, 
including 32,000 people who have successfully located jobs.  The 
GDWF has also worked with the Labor and Social Security Bureau to 
fight against illegal job brokers who cheat women into being 
trafficked.  According to Gao, the Labor and Social Security Bureau 
has allocated RMB 180 million (about US$26 million) to this task. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The GDWF also works with the Department of Education to 
ensure all children enjoy equal opportunity to an education. 
Volunteers for the GDWF also work to combat trafficking in children 
by stationing themselves in large markets and transportation centers 
where children tend to get lost, she said.  In a further effort to 
counter trafficking, Gao explained that the GDWF, in cooperation 
with the Public Security Bureau (PSB), chose Dongguan's Shilongkeng 
Community as a "model anti-trafficking area" because of the 
reduction in trafficking cases in that city.  Recently, the village 
committee in Dongguan, a major manufacturing center located between 
Guangzhou and Shenzhen, set up playgrounds, ping pong courts, and 
security guard patrols to ensure that children are watched during 
and after school hours.  Prior to this development, Dongguan 
experienced numerous trafficking cases and parents simply refused to 
send their children to school, said Gao. 
 
¶5. (SBU) In the area of legal aid and protection, the GDWF has 
lobbied the Guangdong Provincial Government to issue the Guangdong 
Province Implementing Measure for PRC Law on the Protection of 
Women's Rights and Interests, according to Gao.  The GDWF also 
maintains a hotline number to provide legal assistance and an email 
address to receive reports, she said.  The organization has 
established 1,200 schools for migrant workers in the Pearl River 
Delta to provide legal training, she added, and each year, one week 
in March is dedicated to rights protection for women workers. 
 
---------------------------- 
 
GUANGZHOU 00000463  002 OF 003 
 
 
The PSB's "Special Campaign" 
---------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) In addition to sustaining anti-trafficking campaigns in 
Dongguan and other areas saturated with migrant workers, the PSB has 
worked with the GDWF to perform public service-themed plays on how 
to prevent trafficking in women and children.  According to Chen 
Weiguo, Deputy Director of the Guangdong PSB's Public Relations 
Division, in 2007-2008, the PSB cracked 217 trafficking in women 
cases and 151 trafficking in children cases.  Chen added that 38 
criminal gangs were involved, averaging approximately four members 
per gang.  In 2009, since the launch of a "special campaign," 159 
trafficking cases have been solved, he said.  As part of this 
"special campaign," the PSB emphasizes the proper and efficient 
handling of reporting in addition to stronger investigations, 
according to Chen. Moreover, the PSB has already built a DNA 
database containing information on victims and their relatives, and 
an interagency mechanism has been established to fight against 
trafficking in persons, he added. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Comment: Though the Public Security Bureau claimed that 
"prostitution was not a problem in Guangdong" and that the women 
were "mostly becoming farmers' wives," it seems probable that some 
women are trafficked into the sex trade or for use as factory labor. 
 Reportedly, children are trafficked for provision to childless 
families or for factory labor.  End comment. 
 
---------------- 
Common Obstacles 
---------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) According to Gao and Liu Lanni, Liason Officer at the GDWF, 
insufficient resources are an enormous hurdle for organizations 
trying to combat trafficking, especially given the large population 
of migrant workers.  Additional resources would help the GDWF and 
PSB further develop the DNA database, they said. 
 
¶9. (SBU) The other main difficulty cited by both the GDWF and PSB is 
lack of awareness.  Women are often cheated by people they are 
familiar with, said Gao, and they are accustomed to raising kids in 
the countryside, not big cities.  Chen noted that migrant workers 
tend to leave their children at home, even in cities, leaving them 
vulnerable to kidnapping.  While women can report that they have 
been victimized, said Gao, many kidnapped children are infants. 
However, she added, most child trafficking victims are between the 
ages of three and ten.  Chen said that there are still a number of 
people who want sons instead of daughters and thus engage in the 
buying and selling of boys. 
 
------------ 
Rule of Law? 
------------ 
 
¶10. (SBU) According to PSB Serious Crimes Division Section Chief 
Zhang Yanluan, the PSB is currently proposing new laws and 
regulations that would provide better legal tools in the fight 
against human trafficking, including language punishing middlemen 
who may not intentionally be involved in trafficking crimes.  Zhang 
also mentioned that the PSB would like to punish those who buy 
children from traffickers but would not provide further details on 
current provisions of the law. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
Trafficking Issue Gains Media Attention 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) The issue of trafficking in children has received 
increased media attention over the past several months due to a 
number of protests by parents of missing children.  Allegedly, 
approximately 100 parents from Guangdong and Guangxi provinces had 
recently planned to launch a march in Chaozhou, Guangdong, but once 
their plan was exposed, the police visited the homes of these 
parents and "persuaded" them not to attend, according to foreign 
media reports.  When asked about protests by parents, Chen 
responded, "We are empathetic.  Our principle is that we will try 
our best to respond to any information provided."  And in a 
statement he repeated several times during our meeting, he said, "We 
will spare no efforts to investigate." 
 
GUANGZHOU 00000463  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
GOLDBECK