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Now for more on the topic, we are joined in the studio by my colleague Wu Haojun.

Q1: Certainly some very appalling¹ cases we've seen there, now what exactly is the proposed "underage intervention² mechanism³" and how does it intend to protect vulnerable children?

Wu: Yes. It’s exactly the shocking incidents we’ve just seen in the story that the new underage intervention mechanism will endeavour to prevent from happening. In fact, there’s no lack of child protection related laws in the country. China’s 1991 Child Protection Law, 1987 Civil Law and other relevant bylaws define the deprivation⁴ of parental⁵ custody⁶, but there are no specifics on how to implement⁷ these laws. For example, the current law has failed to specify⁸ who can sue when a child is abused by their parents. According to Chinese law, "relevant individuals or institutions" can appeal to the courts when a child is abused by their legal guardian⁹, but the law doesn’t further define "relevant individuals or institutions".And it’s especially unclear about which department is responsible for caring for children if parental custody is removed, and what precautions should be taken.. So it’s exactly all these loopholes the proposed “underage intervention mechanism will address.

Q2: From your research, tell us how some other countries are dealing¹⁰ with the issue. Anything China can learn from?

Wu: Well, here I’ll use the US as an example. It is certainly not an example of a country with the best child welfare. According to US department of health and human services, for 2012, a nationally estimated 1,640 children died of abuse and neglect. But it’s exactly because there is a child abuse problem in the US and they are dealing with it, that we can get some insight. In the US, the Child Protective Services, basically a government funded social services agency, is the one responsible for finding out about child abuse and neglect. US laws actually require anybody who believes that a child has been abused or neglected to make a report to CPS. And the agency will assign caseworkers to investigate. And it doesn’t fight the fight alone, it gets a lot of support from the law enforcement agencies as well. After an investigation¹¹, if your child is deemed not safe, your caseworker will determine if you need services to reduce the risk of abuse or if the child needs to be removed from your care. Certainly a system China can learn from.