BEIJING: Uproar in China this year over incidents of women chained or caged by their husbands has spurred a nationwide crackdown on the decades-old problem of abduction and trafficking of women and children.

The Ministry of Public Security announced the crackdown ahead of Saturday’s opening of an annual session of the rubber-stamp parliament, at which at least seven delegates have expressed interest in raising the topic.

The operation will run until Dec 31 in a politically sensitive year.

It comes at a time when major dissatisfaction towards the ruling Chinese Communist Party risks denting President Xi Jinping’s chance of winning a precedent-breaking third term as leader at a twice-a-decade meeting in autumn.

The ministry, which oversees the police, said on the Weibo social media app that it would run checks on women and children lacking identity details who live on the streets, suffer mental illness or are intellectually or physically disabled.

The ministry vowed to “resolutely eradicate the breeding ground for abducting and trafficking” women and children, it added in Wednesday’s statement.

Published in Dawn, March 3rd, 2022