The Rise of the Security State and the Problem of Missing Children in China

• In Event: ACCCJ China, Young People and the State

Abstract

Using data collected from online ethnography, participant observation of parents’ self-help activities to look for missing children, as well as over fifty in-depth interviews with parents, activists and law enforcement agencies, this research aims to explore the reasons for the trust/distrust towards police among parents of missing children in China. We also examine various challenges and strategies adopted by parents in the prolonged process of looking for missing children. We find that parents generally hold low trust towards the police. The inactive police force, police corruption and stability preservation (weiwen) regime further reduce the limited trust towards the police. Although parents have resorted to various self-help strategies to look for their missing children, and have actively worked as claims-makers in constructing the problem of missing children, these strategies are heavily constrained in the backdrop of the rise of security state in China.

Authors

• Jianhua Xu, University of Macau

• Xuan Niu, University of Macau

• Haiyun Zhao, University of Macau