A dysfunctional system

Zhang Wenjuan, deputy director of the Beijing Children's Legal Aid and Research Center, said the issues of abandoned and street children can all be attributed to China's dysfunctional guardian system, or unspecified State responsibilities to protect a child's rights.

"Chinese law stipulates parents are the legal guardians of minors, but our government has not done enough to enable parents to fulfill their responsibilities or intervene when parents fail in their obligations," she said.

In less-developed areas, the assistance system for parents is weaker, leading some to abandon children who have disabilities or major illnesses because they are unable to afford the medical expenses, she said.

Two boys play during a break at the boarding school.

"Some parents are not born good parents, but the State does not effectively intervene when parents abuse their children, which can result in children running away from home."

Criminal law requires victims to submit a case to the court in the case of domestic abuse, and the only exception is when a victim is killed or severely injured, Zhang said.

"The law neglects the fact that children usually are too young to sue or collect evidence for themselves," she said.

In her eyes, what the civil law suggests for appointing a legal guardian for a child after the parents' deaths has flaws, too.

Civil law stipulates grandparents, siblings and other close relatives receive preferential treatment when a court orders guardianship for an orphaned child.

It added if a minor does not have those relatives, the child's parents' employer, community committee or village committee can be appointed the legal guardian, while civil affairs departments are last on the list.

"How can you expect an employer to be willing to be a guardian?" Zhang said.

She said the system leads to many children living without guardians, and their awkward status sets up numerous obstacles to their ability to access public services and other government benefits.

Days after a blaze that claimed seven lives and severely injured another person at a private orphanage in Lankao county, Henan province, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said for the first time that authorities should act as legal guardians for orphans and abandoned children in private institutions.

Individuals and private organizations that raise orphans and abandoned children should run their organizations jointly with civil affairs authorities, and the latter should act as children's legal guardians, the ministry spokesman Wang Laizhu was quoted by People's Daily as saying on Thursday.

Wang pledged that the ministry will draw lessons from the disaster and speed up the process of improving laws to help disadvantaged children.

Tong Xiaojun, a specialist in child rights at the China Youth University for Political Sciences who has participated in legislation, said draft regulations on child welfare include establishing child welfare agencies at all levels of government.

The draft also suggested setting up community-based child service centers that can deliver subsidies and assistance to help families cope when dealing with poverty, domestic violence, disease and other troubles.

Guo Anfei in Kunming contributed to this story.

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