Shunyi Foreign Foster Parent of 11 Disappears, Critically Ill Child at Hospital
Police are seeking the whereabouts of a fifty-something foreigner they suspect of child abuse whose eight-year-old foster daughter is recovering from surgery at a Beijing hospital.
The Mirror reported Thursday that the girl, called Phoebe, is one of 11 ethnic Chinese foster children the man has been raising in various apartments around Beijing, most recently at Capital Paradise in Shunyi.
The girl, who at a reported 20 kilos is underweight for her age, is still in critical condition at the hospital after three surgeries to relieve a duodenal obstruction and kidney damage that doctors believe were caused by external blunt force. A volunteer attending to the girl claims she said she had been beaten by her foster father, who has not been seen nor heard from since November 24.
Reports say the man, referred to as Ray, lived for a time this year in a two-bedroom flat in Capital Paradise, where neighbors complained that the foster kids would occasionally be caught rifling through the trash to look for food. Area residents say the man was a frequent customer at the Pinnacle Plaza Starbucks where he would sip coffee while his children played in and around the store.
According to hospital officials, Phoebe is fluent in English and speaks only simple Chinese. She is extremely withdrawn and in her current condition is mostly too scared to talk to anyone.
The bulk of the Mirror report was based on an interview with a foreign volunteer using the pseudonym Xu Qiang, who claims to have helped the man take care of his 11 foster kids for several years.
This was the girl’s third trip to the hospital, the first two times being brought in by her foster father and also being checked out before doctors were satisfied that she had fully recovered. The third time she was brought in, on November 24, she was brought by a volunteer. Since then the man, nor his ten other foster children, has not been heard from.
Xu said Ray has been in China for over 30 years, speaks Chinese fluently, and as far as he knows, has not held a regular job. He has been raising orphans from infancy since at least 2004, with most of the children abandoned by their natural parents because of birth defects such as cleft palate and mental retardation.
Xu said Ray and an "old Chinese lady" occasionally found the children abandoned at train stations and other locations, while others had been brought to him. Ray posts the stories of the orphans onto a website at www.rayschildren.org and accepts donations to pay for the children's corrective surgeries, and the children typically remained with him afterward.
Xu and an additional witness contacted by the Beijinger claims Ray was harsh to the children in public, often pushing them, twisting their ears or yelling at them.
Xu said he volunteered at Ray’s house three times per week and would bring food each time, but it never seemed to be enough to feed the children, who seemed to subsist on potato chips and other junk food. The kids were trained to not answer the door unless it was a foreign face on the other side.
None of the children were formally educated and typically lived together in one room of a two-bedroom apartment in squalid conditions. The children were home-schooled and all have some level of reading and writing skills, although lagging behind kids of their age, Xu said.
On at least one occasion the children were spotted begging, in fluent English, in front of a foreign supermarket wearing tattered and dirty clothes.
Xu said that Ray would move every several months, and after each month would cease to contact former volunteers. Reporters interviewed Capital Paradise security guards who say he has since moved out, and Xu's latest attempts to contact the man via email and phone have failed.
Images: rayschildren.org
Editor's note: This article has been modified to reflect the correct source of the original story: The Mirror
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All I can say is that there are many, many witnesses to this story; for one reason or another it was easier for everyone to look the other side and not report him to the authorities.
I am not saying he sent her to hospital (this or the previous two times), but there is a big chance he did; he is even all around Chinese media, if you search. Why is he on the run? If he had nothing to hide he would be by the girl's side at the hospital, like most of us -if not all- would do.
And BTW I have never read or heard the Chinese lady was her spouse or anything, she is always referred to as a "nanny" or "Ayi"
I somehow get a feeling y people'so comments that the fact that he's a foreigner turns him into a "nice guy" automatically.
This is a sensitive story, and if he's a "good guy gone bad" doesn't mean we all are like that... I am not at all worried that I will be pointed at just for being a foreigner, all .thanks to him ! I am way more concerned for these children's welfare, for the girl's health, recovery and future, and that if this guy did what I think he did, is brought to the authorities to get whatever punishment they decide he deserves.
The fact that we are foreigners in China doesn't magically turn us into Angels. We are all human beings and regardless of our nationalities we have proven to be capable of doing horrible things.
It is beyond my comprehension how or why someone would harm a child (or another human being for that matter) in any way, and we all know it happens every day, all around the world.
I agree, there are tons of foreigners who do countless amazing things here! This might be ONE guy gone bad.
My two fen
Let me show you:
"A volunteer attending to the girl claims she said she had been beaten by her foster father"
- Before you said the volunteer claimed this and not that the volunteer claimed this. Only after my message did you change it.
This was never said: "She is extremely withdrawn and in her current condition is mostly too scared to talk to anyone."
This was re-worded: "Ray posts the stories of the orphans onto a website at www.rayschildren.org and accepts donations to pay for the children's corrective surgeries, and the children typically remained with him afterward."
You never mentioned "another witness contacted by thebeijinger: "an additional witness contacted by the Beijinger claims Ray was harsh."
you never mentioned how often the volunteer came to the house and that he brought food: "Xu said he volunteered at Ray’s house three times per week and would bring food each time, but it never seemed to be enough to feed the children"
This wasn't mentioned: "The children were home-schooled and all have some level of reading and writing skills, although lagging behind kids of their age".
This was never mentioned: "Xu said that Ray would move every several months, and after each month would cease to contact former volunteers."
whitebread, you're off your rocker. These were all in the original article with the exception of the sentence with the URL.
Note: At the request of commenters, we have replaced the photos that were used in the original Legal Daily article.
Thanks, TBJ. Please do keep us updated on how the lil girl is doing. That I do hope would be the main interest of TBJ readers. A fair number of commenters seem to have forgotten to ask about her in the midst of angst over the foster parent.
Tommy,
How is me not reading this website going to help the problem of this website causing added racial and social tension against the foreign comunity living in China? If I don't read it, it doesn't happen?
Like when they wrote about the "dirty foreigner" groping a stranger on the subway (which turned out to be his girlfiend!) , and thus leading local people to have a more negative opinion about foreigners and perhaps even inspiring some drunken local youths to take out their anger on some foreigners they feel are hasseling woman-if I don't read about it, it doesn't make the tensions in the community more volatile? Or if I don't read the race baiting, pediphilic posts of the ever present basement troll Booby, does that mean that his incendairy remarks won't be seen by others who might find them equally offensive and inciting of cultural anger?
Whatever I don't read about doesn't happen in the community, is that what you are suggesting Tommy? The negative affects of publicizing bad stereotyping, and cultural insensitivites based on inneundo is all down to whether or not I read it? If that is the case, I warn you in advance, don't read the last line, so it will have no affect on you.
Tommy, you are a completely clueless moron, who is intellectually wholly incapable of understanding the dynamics of flaming cultural tensions with provocative and irresponsible journalism.
Let me show you:
"A volunteer attending to the girl claims she said she had been beaten by her foster father"
- Before you said the volunteer claimed this and not that the volunteer claimed this. Only after my message did you change it.
This was never said: "She is extremely withdrawn and in her current condition is mostly too scared to talk to anyone."
This was re-worded: "Ray posts the stories of the orphans onto a website at www.rayschildren.org and accepts donations to pay for the children's corrective surgeries, and the children typically remained with him afterward."
You never mentioned "another witness contacted by thebeijinger: "an additional witness contacted by the Beijinger claims Ray was harsh."
you never mentioned how often the volunteer came to the house and that he brought food: "Xu said he volunteered at Ray’s house three times per week and would bring food each time, but it never seemed to be enough to feed the children"
This wasn't mentioned: "The children were home-schooled and all have some level of reading and writing skills, although lagging behind kids of their age".
This was never mentioned: "Xu said that Ray would move every several months, and after each month would cease to contact former volunteers."
I've been keeping track of this story all day and it's weird that thebeijinger keeps re-writing the article without announcing they've re-written it to cover their tracks. Why haven't they published at least a sticker that says "Updated" or "Revised Article". Again, sloppy journalism.
The difference from when this article was published till now is day and night. And no one really admitted anything.
as far as I know the story hasn't been rewritten at all, with the exception of fixing some typos and adding a reference to the website run by the foster father.
The picture was changed and noted in the comments.
All the other updates I have made in the comments, not in the body of the original article.
I've been keeping track of this story all day and it's weird that thebeijinger keeps re-writing the article without announcing they've re-written it to cover their tracks. Why haven't they published at least a sticker that says "Updated" or "Revised Article". Again, sloppy journalism.
The difference from when this article was published till now is day and night. And no one really admitted anything.
Note: At the request of commenters, we have replaced the photos that were used in the original Legal Daily article.
Uhm, did you know, Squid, that perusing the Beijinger is not actually mandated by law? It's completely optional; you can either read the stuff here or not, without any consequences whatsoever. I wanted to make sure you are aware of that, because of your obvious distaste for the website. You're FREE!!
Yes Admin, I agree, you have a large front page story about a guy (and his chinese spouse) who may be bad, and you also have stories about macaroni and cheese.
Let's not forget foreigners organizing charities that raise literally hundreds of thousands of RMB for charity.
Were all eleven childern living with one guy in one house? The story seems to suggest that they lived in several locations-so apparently he is not the only foster parent.
All indications are that he was the sole foster parent and all the children were living with him in one apartment. They lived in several locations not because they were split up but because the guy has moved them ever several months.
A portion of the original Chinese article that was not translated quotes the volunteer saying that there was a typical pattern of behavior: volunteers would get suspicious, and when they started asking questions, the guy would get threatening and then up and move the kids somewhere else.
Was this a charity, that was under the name of the Chinese woman, who you have completely left out of the story?
According to our source this was not a legally registered charity and the man had not formally adopted the children. The man apparently identifies himself as a missionary and was teaching the children via homeschooling videos provided a religiously affiliated school
Yes Admin, I agree, you have a large front page story about a guy (and his chinese spouse) who may be bad, and you also have stories about macaroni and cheese.
And you also have an entire forum site that is the equvalent of a garbage, racially charged fetish site.
Points noted.
Were all eleven childern living with one guy in one house? The story seems to suggest that they lived in several locations-so apparently he is not the only foster parent. Was this a charity, that was under the name of the Chinese woman, who you have completely left out of the story? Have you ever written anything about this charity BEFORE these things happened?
For you to say, I admire the guy for the great works he has done, but does that give him the right to beat childern is just sort of too ridiculous to deserve a reply other than, wtf. On top of this, you have no problem allowing mentally challenged people like Booby turning the story into his little fetish game, complete with pictures of the kids, and sick tales. The whole point being, does this website have any standards at all?
You mean writing a column about a new cheese restaurant opeing is one of the great ways you are highlighting the good works of foreigners in the community?
Gee, how could I have missed that.
I don't know how you could have missed that.
How you could have missed the fact that we've repeatedly highlighted positiive contributions foreigners have made to Beijng, be it running interesting businesses, conducting multiple charity projects or otherwise making life pleasant here and contributing to the community at large?
After all, you're to one who just stated that "I dread seeing what the next tarring of all people with the wrong skin is going to be each day on this site. What is the positive value that thebejinger adds to the community? Its hard to think of much"
Your comments to me seemed to indicate that you think we're all about talking shit about foreigners. I'm only providing you with plenty of evidence to the contrary.
britomart: There is a volunteer at the hospital taking care of the girl (according to the original Legal Daily report).We are currently in touch with a trusted source (an expat who asked to remain anonymous) who is a social worker closely involved in the case, knows the children and is working with authorities.
Our source indicates that the foster parent is panicked and "on the run and staying at multiple hotels and other places -- even moving from district to district to dodge police attention."
Here is an update from our source:
-- Source confirms that the hospitalized child told doctors that her injuries were caused by the foster parent
-- Source said other children claim to have been physically and verbally abused
-- Source said the parent has not formally adopted the children, which makes his guardianship of the children illegal and could explain why he's hiding
Addiitonally several internet sources indicate the man identifies himself as a missionary in China
Squid I'd also like to point out that we talk far more often about when foreigners do good things in this city than when they do bad things.
As evidence let me provide links from just the past 30 days on our blog, all of which talk about positive things foreigners are doing in Beijing:
0 to 100,000 in 30 Days: Maovember Tops RMB 100,000
Xian to Host Chi Fan For Charity After-Party; Remaining Seats Going Fast
Bang Your Head With Imperialist Bastards and their Friends For a Good Cause This Sunday
Mao's for Movember: Beijing Foodies November Charity Dinner at 京A Taproom
Beijing's Most Interesting People 2014: Michael Ohlsson
Eight Phrases to Teach Your Buddies that Don't Speak Mandarin on National Pengyou Day
Interview: Jahanavi B. Laag of Ishaveya
Cheesy Dreams Come Alive at The Corner Melt
Beijing Playhouse Actor Ray Robles Shares Experience on the Set of Robin Hood
"From the way I see it, this guy is to be admired for what looks like unselfish devotion to taking care of unwanted handicapped children, for apparently little or no reward. But that doesn't give him the right to hurt the children, does it?"
You have no idea that he did hurt any children. I repeat, you have no evidence, just hearsay. In fact, if this article was published in the west, you could be sued for slander. I don't know what the laws in China are, but my suggestion is to stop any accusations you are and will continue to make.
Squid: We are a website aimed at a foreign audience in a primarily monoethnic society, so when a foreigner is involved, it immediately becomes of interest and quite different than parallels to what might happen in a multi-ethnic city like New York.
And it's the rare involvement of a foreigner that specifically because this is so rare that this is of news interest. Yes Chinese people do lots of bad things too -- in fact there are stories of Chinese people forcing children to be beggars regularly in the Chinese media that -- but we're not so much interested in that both because it rarely directly involves our readership.
This is being talked about in Chinese media extensively and we can choose to ignore that it happened, yes, but does pretending it didn't happen doesn't make it go away.
There are the interests of the foreign foster parent to be considered here, yes -- and there is the interests of 10 children who could be in danger.
From the way I see it, this guy is to be admired for what looks like unselfish devotion to taking care of unwanted handicapped children, for apparently little or no reward. But that doesn't give him the right to hurt the children, does it?
"Actually it does -- just poorly worded/translated on our part."
That's kind of a big thing to mistranslate, isn't it? In fact it's the BIGGEST ASPECT that gives the whole article any credence whether the abuse came from the girl's mouth or the volunteer's. How could you have been so sloppy as to have missed that?
""Reporters interviewed Capital Paradise security guards who say he has since moved out."
- They don't say anything about the abuse aspect, just that he has moved out.
True but they are also the source of the references to the kids searching for food in the trash."
The article states that neighbours complained about the kids rummaging through the trash, it doesn't say the security guards found them rummaging through the trash. How do we know what the motivations of the kids were? Were they actually hungry, was it a game, we don't know, but I guess you do. The neighbors could have had it in for this guy and made the whole thing up, but thebeijinger I guess knows the answer already.
I just think that this article is the line that thebeijinger crossed where it became a reference point for me to find out about events happening in Beijing to becoming a Journalistic news source where as an entity you do private investigations yourself.
Admin,
Does it ever occur to this website to consider the ramifications of its content? You are making accusations about a "foreign guy" (the point being of course that he has a white face, so as long as you have a white face, you will always be a foreigner, even if you have been here 30 years) , thereby creating the storyline that foreign people do such bad things. Actually we may never know if this particular person did something wrong or not, but that will always be irrelevant to the image you create. Foreign guy= does bad.
Where is the Chinese woman in this story? She basically doesn't exist for this websites purpose.
Are there websites in America where we can read about everyone who has ever done something wrong in America who has a Chinese face? Do you know the cop who shot the innocent guy in the stairwell in New York was named Peter Liang? Does that mean there are evil Chinese people in America that need to be monitered?
This site causes more racial problems than any single source in all of the city. I dread seeing what the next tarring of all people with the wrong skin is going to be each day on this site. What is the positive value that thebejinger adds to the community? Its hard to think of much.
britomart: There is a volunteer at the hospital taking care of the girl (according to the original Legal Daily report).
We are currently in touch with a trusted source (an expat who asked to remain anonymous) who is a social worker closely involved in the case, knows the children and is working with authorities.
Our source indicates that the foster parent is panicked and "on the run and staying at multiple hotels and other places -- even moving from district to district to dodge police attention."
Has TBJ's reporter heard any news about whether anyone is looking out for the little girl now? Is this Xu Jiang looking after her? Chinese hospitals don't provide full service care; if no one's taking care of her needs, she's going to be in a bad situation. And did TBJ ask about who's going to foot the hospital bill, now that Ray's MIA? If this little girl is disabled, she could very well be tossed out on the street if no responsible party is around to pay.
I feel gross having read this. I understand that there are different protocols and ethics for journalism in China, but this is still an English language newspaper that focuses on content that disproportionately interests foreigners in China, and by and large, presents itself as some form of journalism.
Publishing the name of a child abuse victim makes you worse than the sleeziest tabloids in the world and is universally considered a breach of ethics in the developed world. Publishing a photo of a child abuse victim in her hospital is vile. I am literally nauseated by the fact that someone has to tell you this.
"A volunteer attending to the girl claims she said she had been beaten by her foster father."
- The article never states the the accusation comes from the child herself.
Actually it does -- just poorly worded/translated on our part. The hospital volunteer (which is a different person from Xu) said the girl herself claims she was beaten by her foster father. The original Chinese is: 她首次入院时，曾称自己是被收养人打伤 "when the girl was first admitted, she said she was beaten by her foster father"
"Reporters interviewed Capital Paradise security guards who say he has since moved out."
- They don't say anything about the abuse aspect, just that he has moved out.
True but they are also the source of the references to the kids searching for food in the trash
"Xu and an additional witness contacted by the Beijinger claims Ray was harsh to the children in public, often pushing them, twisting their ears or yelling at them."
- I've seen this kind of action from how many Chinese parents...It doesn't confirm anything
True it doesn't prove anything but it does lend credence to the story. Now you have three sources from the original story, and two that we found on our own after the story was published:
1. girl herself claims to have been beaten
2. volunteer says kids were always hungry and lived in squalor
3. security guards say kids rummaging through trash for food
4. Witness A says foster parent's public behavior was abusive
5. Witness B says foster parent's public behavior was abusive
"A volunteer attending to the girl claims she said she had been beaten by her foster father."
- The article never states the the accusation comes from the child herself.
"Reporters interviewed Capital Paradise security guards who say he has since moved out."
- They don't say anything about the abuse aspect, just that he has moved out.
"Xu and an additional witness contacted by the Beijinger claims Ray was harsh to the children in public, often pushing them, twisting their ears or yelling at them."
- I've seen this kind of action from how many Chinese parents...It doesn't confirm anything.
>> So basically this "report" is based on total heresay from someone who "claims" to have helped Ray.
Not exactly.
-- the accusation of abuse comes from the child herself, according to hospital sources
-- The reporters also talked to the security guards at Capital Paradise who are the sources of other portions of the story
-- Last night we confirmed from two additonal sources who had met the man at the Pinnacle Plaza Starbucks that he was abusive to the children in public
"The bulk of the Mirror report was based on an interview with a foreign volunteer using the pseudonym Xu Qiang, who claims to have helped the man take care of his 11 foster kids for several years."
So basically this "report" is based on total heresay from someone who "claims" to have helped Ray.
Why couldn't this story have been published when there is an official investigation into the whole thing and a consensus has been reached by the relevant authorities?
Apparently our minds have already been made up and this man has been deemed "evil" for his actions before he's been proven guilty based on metadata that can be completely changed in an instant.
BTW, you couldn't find a better picture of that poor girl lying on the hospital bed? It seems completely disrespectful to me to show a picture of her being in a state like that and I think the point of it is just to illicit a response to the public to sway their minds into believing Ray is guilty.
I'm not saying he's guilty or not guilty but this whole thing is built in such a way like a house of cards can fall with a bit of wind.