A humid summer night in 1995 in Guangdong became the most horrifying memory of Chen Mingxia’s life. As her family slept, a group of people suddenly burst in, beat and tied up her and her husband, then abducted their toddler, Li Yuanpeng, who was screaming in his bed.
"That was the last time I saw my son. They took him right before my eyes", the mother recalled.
Li disappeared precisely when China’s one-child policy was most strictly enforced. At that time, the traditional preference for sons and the desire for an heir made baby boys highly sought-after commodities on the black market.
While no official figures exist, Li was one of thousands of children who vanished from their parents' arms in the 1980s and 1990s.
For over three decades, Chen and her husband searched everywhere, following every lead, but to no avail. At age 52, she still describes living with "a rock weighing heavily on her heart", hoping for a reunion to lift that burden.
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The one-child policy, implemented by China from 1979 to 2015. *Photo: Will Burgess/Reuters*
A legacy of a past era
According to doctor Wang Jingxian of King's College London, the tragedy of Chen's family is a painful slice of history. The tradition of only recognizing sons as legal heirs fueled the trafficking of baby boys. Conversely, many girls during that period were abandoned or forced into prostitution and arranged marriages.
Although the one-child policy ended in 2016, the "scars" it left on Chinese society remain. The latest data shows that the country's birth rate in 2025 hit a record low since 1949, leading to a severe gender imbalance and a demographic crisis that is difficult to reverse.
Today, with the explosion of the Internet, old pains are resurfacing. Thousands of families like Chen's are clinging to the power of one billion internet users to find their loved ones.
Delayed justice
Xu Guihua is also tirelessly searching for her grandson, Chi Jianyong, who went missing in 1995 at 4 years old while walking home from the market. "In those days, there were no surveillance cameras, and traffickers acted with impunity", Xu said.
In 2024, Chinese authorities launched an unprecedented crackdown campaign. In January 2025, the notorious trafficker Wang Haowen was sentenced to death. Just a month later, Yu Huaying, a woman who abducted 17 children, also faced justice.
However, for those left behind, like Xu and Chen, the death penalty for the perpetrators does not bring the same peace as news of their children or grandchildren.
"Why haven't you found your way home? Your aunt, your father, and your mother have searched the world for you", Xu whispered into the void, hoping that somewhere, her grandson, lost for 30 years, might hear.
Nhat Minh (According to Straitimes, AFP)
