Advocacy & Safety - "Chinese express horror at public indifference to toddler hit-run victim"

Not for the highly sensitive;

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/envoy/chinese-express-horror-public-indifference-toddler-hit-run-192407296.html

That is pretty horrifying.

First driver stops with the kid half under the van, then keeps going and runs the back wheels over too! A few minutes later a second van just drives over the kid like there is some trash on the road.

It's a kid FFS - what bit of that does not compute for these A holes?

"Many people in China are hesitant to help people who appear to be in distress for fear that they will be blamed," Reuters' Martina wrote in his report. "High-profile law suits have ended with good Samaritans ordered to pay hefty fines to individuals they sought to help."Before the USA wrote 'Good Samaritan Law' protections, we were headed down the same path.

Dam lawyers sueing people that saved their clients lives.

Scumbags, every single one of those ******s that walked past. Jeez, every time I hear a story like this I think of my own two kiddos and just want to hug 'em and keep 'em safe forever.

Wow, CNN has a sanitized version of the video. I seriously want to run over those people with a van.

Not for the highly sensitive;

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/envoy/chinese-express-horror-public-indifference-toddler-hit-run-192407296.html

No wonder that kind of ignorant behavior is seldom seen in Europe.

As a parent, I really don`t want to see the video.

On some cycling blog(can`t remember which) I read, the writer thinks we should refer to cars as "kid crushers". I thought it was a bit extreme, but everytime I see or hear about stories of kids getting hit and killed by cars I start to think it might be a good idea.

As a parent, I really don`t want to see the video.

Do not. I had tears streaming down my face--I'm just tearing up thinking about it. The worst part is through all this sensationalism I'll never get the followup--I'll never know if the she made it OK. I can't even begin to imagine what the parents are going through right now.

Not for the highly sensitive;

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/envoy/chinese-express-horror-public-indifference-toddler-hit-run-192407296.html

So much for, the Great Wall of China.:eek: Indifference attacks from within.:notamused:

Jesus ****ing christ.

Reports now say the girl has died from her injuries and the drivers have been detained... in China this could be seen as a capital offense.

Worst thing is the people walking by as this child was screaming and suffering... and that they did nothing.

Nothing.

Not to sound callous, but is this not the same country where couple are limited to having one child and parents being willing to kill a daughter so that they can have a son? A country that if I am not mistaken has gone so far as to try and force it's laws on the number of children that a couple can have to those who no longer live within it's borders. And some are shocked and saddened that people didn't do anything to help the girl?

Let's also not forget that this is a country that already has a piss poor track record of human rights. A country where probably most people's daily wages is less then the hourly wages for most Americans, Britts, etc. If one doesn't have much to begin with why are they going risk it by helping out a stranger?

It doesn't mean that it's right, it doesn't mean I have to agree with it, but I can understand it. Put yourselves in the shoes of those who "just walked" by and ask yourself if you were in their shoes would you be willing to stop and help someone?

I made the mistake of watching this video. It's horrible. Don't watch it, as it's not for even the highly insensitive!
I can't imagine living in such a society. Shame on those drivers and those who walked by.

I made the mistake of watching this video. It's horrible. Don't watch it, as it's not for even the highly insensitive!
I can't imagine living in such a society. Shame on those drivers and those who walked by.

absolutely horrific. the worst in human behavior on full display for the world to see.

but, your comment on living in such a society ? bad news, but we're not alot better here - take a look around us in the USA. we murder our own people at a clip exceeded only by south american and latin american countries. we hear about child kidnappings/murders all the time (caley anthony ???). it's so common it seems we have become desensitized.

It doesn't mean that it's right, it doesn't mean I have to agree with it, but I can understand it. Put yourselves in the shoes of those who "just walked" by and ask yourself if you were in their shoes would you be willing to stop and help someone?

Maybe it's my cognitive bias since I'm the father of two wonderful toddlers myself, but Jesus man, there are just some universal constants regardless of social mores. An adult, OK, I can be a bit more understanding. But that child? No way--there is no excuse for those scumbags, both drivers and those that gawked as they were walking by. I've put myself in harm's way helping people before, and I'd do it again.

I hope they put that driver in a general population prison and show the other inmates that video.

but, your comment on living in such a society ? bad news, but we're not alot better here - take a look around us in the USA. we murder our own people at a clip exceeded only by south american and latin american countries. we hear about child kidnappings/murders all the time (caley anthony ???). it's so common it seems we have become desensitized.

I can't take a look around in the USA, as it's pretty far away from where I live. :)
I saw some videos of hit-and-runs in China before, and noticed that nobody runs to help the victims. But a toddler?! That's sick... Anyway, I still can't believe that this happened to the poor little girl. I hope she was in shock and didn't feel the pain, and that this accident will serve as a wake up call for the Chinese.

absolutely horrific. the worst in human behavior on full display for the world to see.

but, your comment on living in such a society ? bad news, but we're not alot better here - take a look around us in the USA. we murder our own people at a clip exceeded only by south american and latin american countries. we hear about child kidnappings/murders all the time (caley anthony ???). it's so common it seems we have become desensitized.

Drifting OT, but coincidentally, BBC has just published a report on death from child abuse in the US. Pretty harrowing stuff. Not only are rates of death from child abuse disturbingly high in the US, the accompanying "experts view" column points out that about 70% of the children killed by child abuse are younger than 4, nearly half younger than 1. Shocking.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15193530

http://shanghaiist.com/2011/10/17/foshan_toddler_yueyue_still_under_i.php


Earlier media reports (http://shanghaiist.com/2011/10/17/update_foshan_toddler_passes_away.php) that Yueyue, the toddler who was knocked down (http://shanghaiist.com/2011/10/16/watch_toddler_run_over_by_two_vehic.php) by two vehicles outside a market in Foshan, has passed away have turned out to be false.
Yueyue's mother has appeared on Sina Weibo (http://weibo.com/2473746984) herself to clarify the situation. She said that while Yueyue was still unable to breathe on her own, her situation has stabilised, and she has regained some sensation in her limbs. Doctors say that her chances of recovery are now better than earlier estimated.

I'm not a praying man, but this child and her parents are in my thoughts.

Thread has what to do with cycling advocacy or cycling safety issues...?

Not to sound callous, but is this not the same country where couple are limited to having one child and parents being willing to kill a daughter so that they can have a son? A country that if I am not mistaken has gone so far as to try and force it's laws on the number of children that a couple can have to those who no longer live within it's borders. And some are shocked and saddened that people didn't do anything to help the girl?

Let's also not forget that this is a country that already has a piss poor track record of human rights. A country where probably most people's daily wages is less then the hourly wages for most Americans, Britts, etc. If one doesn't have much to begin with why are they going risk it by helping out a stranger?

It doesn't mean that it's right, it doesn't mean I have to agree with it, but I can understand it. Put yourselves in the shoes of those who "just walked" by and ask yourself if you were in their shoes would you be willing to stop and help someone?
wtf?!?!?! This post has some pretty massive generalizations.

- Certainly some Chinese parents have killed a daughter to have a son, but this happens at such an extremely small rate (likely <0.0001%) that it's really irrelevant.
- I've never heard of this happening, and I know plenty of Chinese people living outside the country with more than one child.
- A government's human rights record really has nothing to do with how humane a country's citizens are. I'd say the USA has a pretty good track record (albeit with a few exceptions), yet stuff like this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms20a8yC5Uw) still happens here.
- How does helping a stranger put one's daily wage at risk?

This was covered at ChinaSmack (http://www.chinasmack.com/2011/videos/2-year-old-chinese-girl-ran-over-by-van-ignored-by-18-bystanders.html). You can read translated comments by Chinese netizens there. The girl is apparently in the hospital in critical condition.

According to reports of interview with the first driver (who turned himself in) by the police, he was looking around for an address when he hit the girl. I repeat: he was looking around, left ,right,... for a street address he's supposed to go, while driving. Don't many drivers do the same thing? It is very dangerous. You think as long as you are not very fast, anyone walking around could see you; but what about the possibility that a little child, like a 2 year old in this case, or a blind person, etc., is there, who has no idea what's going to happen? The driver said it's raining so he did not hear the child's cry. He felt the front right wheel bumped over something, so he looked in the mirror, but didn't see anything, so he continued, then felt the rear right wheel bumped, too. He thought it was just an "object", not a person, so he continued on. After seeing the news, he realized the first driver that hit the girl was probably himself. This driver himself has a 9 month old daughter. As for the poor little girl run over, her back skull was removed, and the doctors said the most optimistic prospect, if surviving, is that she'll become a vegetable.

I believe the court decision they are referring to is the Nanjing Judgement. A man helped a woman, and was charged with the crime himself. The judge opined that only the person hitting someone would take them to a hospital. How did this child get out into the street alone?

How did this child get out into the street alone?

The father was working on something, the mother was hanging laundry, and didn't pay attention when the girl walked away.

I believe the court decision they are referring to is the Nanjing Judgement. A man helped a woman, and was charged with the crime himself. The judge opined that only the person hitting someone would take them to a hospital. How did this child get out into the street alone?

The explanation is given right there in the ChinaSmack post:



[Note: "Nanjing judge" refers to the infamous 2006 case of a man named Peng Yu who helped a woman to the hospital after she had fallen only to have the old woman accuse him of knocking her down. The Nanjing judge in that case ultimately ruled that common sense dictated that only the person who hit her would take her to the hospital, setting a precedent that continues only further discourages and reinforces many Chinese people's wariness to help others in similar situations.]

Ugh, that is super sick and really plays on the emotions. However, it is easy to say "how could they not stop?" from our perspective. Emotion aside, one must experience and know mainland Chinese "reality" to understand the lack of action. Combine a healthy dose of ignorance (most of the populace in that situation are not likely to have much education at all) with a very real understanding of the risks of involvement at all and you get exactly those dismissive reactions. It is well understood that "keeping your head down" and not associating with any situation calling for authority involvement is a generally safer bet. It is far too easy to get rolled up on the wrong side of "official" actions and investigations. Sad but accurate.

For those who intend to emotionally lash back a response let me be clear I DO NOT think this is "right," "just" or anything else "OK." It is just a very real calculation done by non-involved Chinese who feel they have too much personal risk and not enough capable impact to become involved. This in part is what is causing such debate in China. The disparity of those who are educated, powerful, and wealthy who largely feel as we do and those who have very little but an acute sense (built on decades of experience) that involvement is a luxury they often cannot afford.

Add to the fact that the legal system there is far from adequate (that's not to say it is adequate in the U.S., LOL, but at least one can choose lawyers more easily), and death penalty is no big deal there.

Latest reports say one of the drivers (don't know if the first of second) had just split up from his girlfriend and was on the cell phone to her.

Distracted?

Maybe it's my cognitive bias since I'm the father of two wonderful toddlers myself, but Jesus man, there are just some universal constants regardless of social mores. An adult, OK, I can be a bit more understanding. But that child? No way--there is no excuse for those scumbags, both drivers and those that gawked as they were walking by. I've put myself in harm's way helping people before, and I'd do it again.

I hope they put that driver in a general population prison and show the other inmates that video.

Shawn,

I agree with you that it was wrong. But given that they don't have the Good Samaritan laws that we do, and people who have stopped to help others have been sued. So again given that their daily income is about par with an American's hourly wages and you have a wife and child to support why would you risk not only your but your families future?

Again, I don't like it, nor do I agree with it, but I can understand how someone who's income is so low and probably doesn't have much in the way of savings would be unwilling to get involved.

According to the story I saw on the news tonight the child is/was still alive.

wtf?!?!?! This post has some pretty massive generalizations.

- Certainly some Chinese parents have killed a daughter to have a son, but this happens at such an extremely small rate (likely <0.0001%) that it's really irrelevant.
- I've never heard of this happening, and I know plenty of Chinese people living outside the country with more than one child.
- A government's human rights record really has nothing to do with how humane a country's citizens are. I'd say the USA has a pretty good track record (albeit with a few exceptions), yet stuff like this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms20a8yC5Uw) still happens here.
- How does helping a stranger put one's daily wage at risk?

I can't remember how long ago it was, but I do remember seeing stories in the news about Chinese families living here in the states feeling the pressure of their government to limit the number of children that they have.

True.

Uh, given that it is my understanding that they do not have Good Samaritan laws and that people have been sued for trying to help people who have been injured, that is how their daily wages are at risk.

Shawn,

I agree with you that it was wrong. But given that they don't have the Good Samaritan laws that we do, and people who have stopped to help others have been sued. So again given that their daily income is about par with an American's hourly wages and you have a wife and child to support why would you risk not only your but your families future?

Again, I don't like it, nor do I agree with it, but I can understand how someone who's income is so low and probably doesn't have much in the way of savings would be unwilling to get involved.

According to the story I saw on the news tonight the child is/was still alive.

(just shaw if you have to shorten it ;), that's what people call me anyway)

I see what you're saying, but watching the video--it goes beyond anything about being sued. This is a reflex that every one should have--the instinct to care for the young in our species. They weren't merely onlookers, they passed within inches of a dying baby and did nothing. That, to me, makes them worse than the driver, and he's way down there. I think what's most telling is that the Chinese are just as appalled as I am, the only ones making excuses for them are the ones looking in.


I can't remember how long ago it was, but I do remember seeing stories in the news about Chinese families living here in the states feeling the pressure of their government to limit the number of children that they have.This is true. I dated a Chinese girl in another life, and she told me all sorts of stories. They would have neighborhood police in the villages who would go to the authorities for any little transgression. It was literally a neighbor vs. neighbor witch hunt (no, this still doesn't justify what happened).

It doesn't help that this is a major fear of mine. I live on a road that supposed to be 35 mph, but wackos go down it at 65. Thankfully my house is 400 feet away from the road. I work in the my garage sometimes with the kids putzing around, and although I keep an eye on them, I have lost track of them for a few seconds. Visions of Steven King's Pet Semetary erupt in my head as I frantically make sure they aren't heading for the road. They are really good kids, but man it only takes a second of inattentiveness.

eta: I am being a bit naive--babies are being beaten, raped, and killed all over the world. I think it's just the video that really drove it home.

wtf?!?!?! This post has some pretty massive generalizations.

- Certainly some Chinese parents have killed a daughter to have a son, but this happens at such an extremely small rate (likely <0.0001%) that it's really irrelevant.


Completely incorrect.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_child_policy#Gender-based_birth_rate_disparity

(just shaw if you have to shorten it ;), that's what people call me anyway)

Sorry about that.


I see what you're saying, but watching the video--it goes beyond anything about being sued. This is a reflex that every one should have--the instinct to care for the young in our species. They weren't merely onlookers, they passed within inches of a dying baby and did nothing. That, to me, makes them worse than the driver, and he's way down there. I think what's most telling is that the Chinese are just as appalled as I am, the only ones making excuses for them are the ones looking in.

I agree, but how many times do they need to see someone either being sued or arrested and/or convicted of a crime that they didn't commit to make them "gunshy" about helping strangers out? I mean stop and think about it, why do we have the Good Samaritan laws that we have in this country? And believe it or not but soldiers who are deployed to "third world" countries are warned/ordered not to give food/sweets to the natives. Or to try and help them, it's to protect them from themselves.

Also as a medic I was trained NOT to treat a soldier who is expected to die from their wounds. As the supplies that I use to make them comfortable could be used to save the life of someone who IS expected to live.


This is true. I dated a Chinese girl in another life, and she told me all sorts of stories. They would have neighborhood police in the villages who would go to the authorities for any little transgression. It was literally a neighbor vs. neighbor witch hunt (no, this still doesn't justify what happened).

Agreed, but it does help to explain why they did what they did.


It doesn't help that this is a major fear of mine. I live on a road that supposed to be 35 mph, but wackos go down it at 65. Thankfully my house is 400 feet away from the road. I work in the my garage sometimes with the kids putzing around, and although I keep an eye on them, I have lost track of them for a few seconds. Visions of Steven King's Pet Semetary erupt in my head as I frantically make sure they aren't heading for the road. They are really good kids, but man it only takes a second of inattentiveness.

Have you considered putting a chainlink fence up around your yard to keep your kids in the yard?


eta: I am being a bit naive--babies are being beaten, raped, and killed all over the world. I think it's just the video that really drove it home.

Sadly, exactly, how many girls have their genitals mutilated on a daily basis? Some of them right here in our own country.

As a parent, I really don`t want to see the video.

On some cycling blog(can`t remember which) I read, the writer thinks we should refer to cars as "kid crushers". I thought it was a bit extreme, but everytime I see or hear about stories of kids getting hit and killed by cars I start to think it might be a good idea.


As a parent I wish I hadn't seen this.

Thread has what to do with cycling advocacy or cycling safety issues...?
What he asked.

What he asked.

I think that it had initially been reported that the little girl had been riding a bicycle prior to being hit.

There is one thing that I think that everyone needs to remember. That is that it isn't right or fair to judge the people by our customs, culture and standards. That would be like judging the actions of the ancient Romans, or Greeks, or Egyptians by today's standards.

It is wrong, and counterproductive.

Not that it makes the situation better, but if you've lived in China for a period you might understand. The Chinese mindset (for most, not all) is that no one wants to accept blame for anything. If you get run over, the vehicle driver is likely to back over and do it again to kill you since paying funeral costs and fine is far cheaper than extended hospital bills and criminal/civil charges. Ignoring the victim is also common since no one wants to get falsely blamed for being involved or causing it, and thus have to pay big fines. As for the woman who does finally stop, it's common for the first response to be to try to get the victim up instead of immobilizing them and waiting for help to arrive.
Sad but true part of the psyche of many Chinese people.

Completely incorrect.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_child_policy#Gender-based_birth_rate_disparity
Not sure which part you're addressing, but in my post you replied to, I was referring to infanticide (as opposed to abortions or some other means).

Not that it makes the situation better, but if you've lived in China for a period you might understand. The Chinese mindset (for most, not all) is that no one wants to accept blame for anything. If you get run over, the vehicle driver is likely to back over and do it again to kill you since paying funeral costs and fine is far cheaper than extended hospital bills and criminal/civil charges. Ignoring the victim is also common since no one wants to get falsely blamed for being involved or causing it, and thus have to pay big fines. As for the woman who does finally stop, it's common for the first response to be to try to get the victim up instead of immobilizing them and waiting for help to arrive.
Sad but true part of the psyche of many Chinese people.

Holy Jesus Christ.

People should go back and check out post 23.

Even I would be reluctant to get involved with that kind of precident.

I have a track record of being involved to the point of being reckless, 2 family disputes, making sure a street fight ended before any real harm and once going out to investigate what my wife thought was someone calling for help.

That last was funny in the end, one reason I was willing to investigate was that if it was nasty I had 2 100 plus dogs as backup. Turned out that in a very liberal sense my wife was right. It was a lady looking for a lost dog, which was found before nightfall. (Before nightfall was important, it was a small dog and we are coyote country. Perhaos that is why her shouts sounded like she was in distress).

Before the USA wrote 'Good Samaritan Law' protections, we were headed down the same path.

Dam lawyers sueing people that saved their clients lives.

These laws have been thrown out the window in California. See something like this? Call 911 if you can and leave it be...

In other news, the lady who dared help YueYue has fled the city due to all the attention she has been receiving (http://shanghaiist.com/2011/10/20/chen_xianmei_overwhelmed_by_donatio.php) and neighbors who accuse her of only saving the child for the fame (http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/10/19/china-toddler-rescuer.html). The cultural differences just blow my mind.

She went to the hospital and handed all the money she received over the parents of YueYue.

By most credible accounts YueYue is brain dead and will not recover. There are some who believe the government has its claws in this one and is fervently trying to put some sort of positive spin on the story. That may explain the vastly different accounts of how the child is doing.

These laws have been thrown out the window in California. See something like this? Call 911 if you can and leave it be...Are you sure they have been 'thrown out' for average 'Good Samaritans' or were they found not to apply to people like Doctors and RNs?

What is happening is that pregnant women have aminocentresis done which tells them the sex of their unborn child. In China there is an old tradition that children are supposed to support their parents in old age. So parents have children, in part, to gain their support. Since men make more then women, both there and here, there is a significantly large number of male children being born. Even though its illegal to test for the sex of a child and make a choice to keep the child or get an abortion based on that information, it happens.

There is also a really terrible situation going on in North Korea, which shares a border wih China. North Koreans in the northwest part of he country are largely people who are either "enemies of the state" or decendents of them, and North Korea basically channels food and educational resources elsewhere. So people there are starving. Many North Koreans flee into China, where they live like animals in the woods until they get far enough from North Korea to not be recognized as ilegal aliens and sent back, where some of them are killed and others are imprisoned in concentration camps where people are literally worked to death. Many North Korean women are sold as brides to Chinese men. Sometimes they are treated well, but often they aren't, they are virtual slaves. Its one of the most horrible human rights situations in the world in North Korea. Its a horrible truth that people would rather be held in a horrible situation in China but be able to eat, than starve or be imprisoned in Kin Jong Il's "paradise" in North Korea.

Really, the world needs to do more than wring its hands about this situation. But everybody is scared of a big flood of refugees from NK. This situation has been going on since the Korean War but its been getting steadily worse.

There are a very few North Korean refugees living in the US, and Ive spoken with some of them. The stories they tell are as bad as any stories out of the Holocaust. But its been going on for 60 years. Its like something out of some very scary movie, but its real.

Note, I am a Democrat, I am not a neocon. This situation is one that transcends politics on every level.

Doctors have a legal oblgation to speak up when they see something important. Lots of doctors under capitated contracts have been sued for failing to speak up when a patient has a serious condition they notice but they don't bring up to the patient. (These days doctors are often on a capitated plan, paid by how "healthy" their patients are, by paying them a fixed amount whether the patient is healthy or sick, so they have a direct financial incentive not to test for or diagnose illnesses unless its unavoidable.)
Its important, If a doctor realizes a patient has a serious illness, they are legally required to diagnose it or refer the patient to someone who could. They cant just ignore patients issues and hope the patients will go away . Sooner or later, they will get sued for doing that.

That sounds like the laws in New York, which are based on lost income. Of course, most health plans through employers are immune from almost all lawsuits under Erisa section 514, but sometimes the case is not one that involves greedy health insurers and bad medical care.

But, since laws base recovery on lost income, even if the case has nothing to do with employer provided healthcare, say, a driver kills someone who is unemployed or retired, or a child, there is no easy legal way for the family to be compensated. On the other hand, if you maim somebody and they have a long life of huge medical bills ahead of them, then the family can sue in court and at least half will win, and after a few years in court, they get at least a few thousand dollars to pay for it. Increasingly their health insurance company gets first dibs on it ("subrogation") to repay them for the care they have already delivered, but sometimes the plaintiff will win and after the lawyer gets at least a third, they get the money.

Thats not true. Chinese people are often as friendly and helpful as any American. We are a lot more alike than we are different. On the other hand, a look at recent Chinese history will illuminate a lot about why things are the way they are in China. Many Chinese have lived through really terrible periods, extremes of poverty and wealth, corruption and campaigns for political concepts, wars in which they were occupied, massacred and manipulated by the great powers, civil war, revolution, insane political orthodoxy, famine, more insane political orthodoxy (the second time ending with an entire generation being cheated of careers and fulfilling jobs- millions of people - China's "Lost Generation" were "sent down" to the country to shovel **** for many years. Then, after Mao died, they had the now quite unpopular Gang of Four. Finally, things relaxed a bit with Deng's embrace of "capitalism with Chinese characteristics" and "to be rich is glorious".. A lot of people did get rich. Especially the well connected.

Then the people tried to speak up in 1989 and the government brually suppressed them.

The Chinese government is paranoid because they are under a huge amount of pressure to deliver economic growth at any cost. If they don't, the people will riot.

They are incredibly hard working and resourceful. Try to imagine what it is like to work 60 hour weeks, living with your co workers in tiny, cramed dormitories, often four or eight to a room. People do this because they believe that they can move up and out of poverty. But its not working as well as they would hope.

Hundreds of millions of Chinese families are separated, men often working in cities far from their families, in limbo because they dont have permission to live there. They all try to go home for the New Year and its complete pandemonium.

Its almost like a caste system. Rural Chinese are locked out of the country's success because rural schools are only funded barely. And as performance on a single test can put a student in the fast track to success or in a low quality vocational school, the school you went to is really important. Some students study every waking hour of the day and night. Its that important.

China concentrates its resources in the urban and coastal areas, which now enjoy a standard of living not that different than the US in many ways. But it still is different in that its far more competitive than it is here. Its like that througout Asia. Rural people are struggling. They are often unable to pay for their children's education and child labor is common, even though its illegal.

Once public healthcare and education are now privatized and fror the rich, better, if you can pay for them, but at the same time, they have grown out of reach of many people. For poor people education and healthcare are a ht or miss situation. Often they get low quality healthcare and education.

We often visualize China as our direct competitor and certainly, after a period of huge setbacks China is returning to the position its held for 4000 years as "the middle kingdom" of Asia.

But, economic growth is slowing, because even in China, technology is replacing unskilled jobs. Unemployment is growing and working people are being left behind.

China is still in many ways, a powder keg with the potential to explode. Its not as isolated as it once was, and the people know whats happening and they don't like it. But, to some extent, like the US, China mostly looks inward. Its an exporting country, but Chinese often are wrapped up in China in many ways. They are curious about the US, and about Americans, but we are not "their" country, just like China is not ours so many Americans remain quite uninformed about China. Its very hard to understand China well if you are not Chinese, but its still rewarding and fascinating. The US with its 300 million people is much smaller than China, and the population was as big or bigger as the US is now a thousand years ago. We are only a fraction of the size of China with its 1.3 billion. China has dozens of huge, sprawling cities, choked with the worst pollution in the world. It probably has a billion bicycle riders.

Just read that the little girl died from her injuries :(

During the Great Leap Forward famine, many villages were wiped out by widespread starvation while the government claimed they were having record harvests. People could not discuss it because the system could not be wrong, period. People went mad and ate their own children. The best estimates of the number of people who died make it clear that it compares with World War II and the Holocaust, one of the worst disasters in the history of humanity, in terms of deaths.

Its now an almost identical situation in North Korea.

Illegitimate babies are often left in dumpsters to die because the young women who have them are afraid of their parents or the hospital bills they would be asked to pay in a hospital. Ask any big city EMT. Its so common the news only rarely carries the stories.

When they are open about their pregnancies, young mothers are often unable to find a working solution, unlike women in other developed countries. This results in many of them almost being forced to give their babies up for adoption, while in other countries, mother and child could remain together.

It turns out that this is because of money. It costs an average of around $10k to have a baby if you don't have health insurance, but it can cost as much as $250k for a difficult pregnancy and delivery. That bill can be paid if they give their baby up. Money is the real reason for the pressure to give up their babies to the (faith based) "adoption facilitators" who often make six figure incomes in commissions adopting them off, often to rich foreigners. The US is known internationally as the easiest place for white couples to adopt a child who looks like them.

Well to do couples come to the US from all over the world, Europe, Australia, South Africa. There are bidding wars, just like with real estate.

The growing, unregulated, untaxed adoption facilitation industry is a big income stream for many rural churches, as adoption facilitators must be associated with a church, and they get a percentage of the fees, which can easily be $50-100k.

Chinese child run over twice dies

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/10/21/toddler-china.html