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As the cameras roll, the tears start to flow

By Qin Zhongwei (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-05-20 07:46

When the camera turned on, the tears of Wang Meizhi, 47, a woman from a village in Hebei province, could not stop. Behind the camera, college student Qu Xiaohan, too, had tears rolling down.

It was the second time Wang, together with Wu Xinghu, a 31-year-old father, had come to Beijing to look for their children, who had been missing for a long time.

This time, though, four college students have involved themselves in their search - by filming a documentary for the heartbroken parents.

Qu, who is studying broadcasting and television editing at the Communication University of China and three classmates - Bi Bo, Li Jingrui and Zhang Yan - learnt about Wu and Wang via news reports in April. They met the two parents, along with other eight other parents from different parts of the country, who have had similar experiences.

The students followed them in Beijing with their cameras, including to meetings with officials from the Ministry of Public Security, Li told METRO.

"At that time, we had an assignment to shoot some social news, and we thought it was a good topic," Li said. "But after finishing it, we were so involved that we could not put the topic aside."

They decided to produce a documentary on missing children. On receiving funding and approval, they were assigned a professor to guide them.

Even though Wu and Wang know this is a students' project, and it is still uncertain whether it will be aired, they do not want to miss any opportunity to find their children.

Wang, a farmer in Beijing's neighboring Langfang city, has been to almost all the provinces in China since her two boys, then aged five and six, went missing on Sept 28, 1995.

Wu, from Shannxi province, had his one-year-old son stolen from his arms while both were sleeping in their home in 2008. After two years of searching, half his hair had turned gray.

"We have a custom in our hometown on Spring Festival that as long as someone in your family is not dead, no matter if he is working far or what, you need to prepare his set of chopsticks and bowl on the table," Wang told the camera. "Over the past 15 years, I have never forgotten to prepare two sets for my boys each year, but every time, my heart bleeds."

Since the Ministry of Public Security launched its toughest crackdown on human trafficking last April, police have saved 4,466 abducted children. A DNA database has also been established. Up to March 2, 511 children have been reunited with their parents, the ministry's website says.

But with the huge profits in human trafficking, many new cases are being reported. In some rural areas of provinces such as Shanxi or Guangdong, buying a child is prevalent, Wu said.

In some southern provinces, parents are not welcomed, Wu said, with police sending the parents home rather than helping them find their children.

While the cameras can record all the words, they cannot record all the tears wept. The students began to realize it is going to be one of most difficult topics they have touched, Bi said. So far, 10 tapes have shot, but it's not enough. They have told Wang they plan to go to her hometown to continue filming during the summer vacation.

"At first, we might have been doing it to win an award or something. But now, we just want to make it as good as possible to dedicate these great parents," Li said.