Jul 23 2017 : The Times of India (Bangalore)
Video of child cage fighters stirs debate on China orphans
Shanghai
AFP
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A disturbing video of two 12 year-old boys fighting in a mixed martial arts cage in China has sparked impassioned online debate over the plight of orphans in the country .An MMA club in the city of Chengdu has adopted hundreds of boys who lost their parents at a young age, raising and training them as fighters, according to reports. In footage from a short documentary by Chinese private streaming website Pear Video circulating widely on social media, two pre-teens are seen taking part in a bruising fight in an octagonal steel cage.
One knocks the other down and proceeds to bash him repeatedly about the head and body as the losing fighter cowers on the mat.
Models in bikini tops and short jeans cheer and a man with a microphone whips up the crowd by saying the boys were “fighting for their fate“.
A local-level office of the ministry of civil affairs, which handles orphans in China, brought most of the children to the En Bo Fight Club, its founder told the makers of the documentary . Most of the children in the club were from China's dozens of minority groups, including Tibetans.
The Beijing News, a staterun newspaper, accused the club of exploiting the children. “Did they enjoy the right to education based on the law while they underwent strict training and competed in intense fights?“ an editorial asked on Friday .
The issue also was a point of fierce debate on China's Twitter-like Weibo platform.
Others argued that without the club the boys would end up on the street and a possible life of crime. A 14-year-old boy named Xiaolong says in the documentary that he is happy to be safe and well fed.“There is everything here -food, clothes and a place to live. The food here is much better (than at home). There is beef and eggs but I can only have potatoes at home.“
One knocks the other down and proceeds to bash him repeatedly about the head and body as the losing fighter cowers on the mat.
Models in bikini tops and short jeans cheer and a man with a microphone whips up the crowd by saying the boys were “fighting for their fate“.
A local-level office of the ministry of civil affairs, which handles orphans in China, brought most of the children to the En Bo Fight Club, its founder told the makers of the documentary . Most of the children in the club were from China's dozens of minority groups, including Tibetans.
The Beijing News, a staterun newspaper, accused the club of exploiting the children. “Did they enjoy the right to education based on the law while they underwent strict training and competed in intense fights?“ an editorial asked on Friday .
The issue also was a point of fierce debate on China's Twitter-like Weibo platform.
Others argued that without the club the boys would end up on the street and a possible life of crime. A 14-year-old boy named Xiaolong says in the documentary that he is happy to be safe and well fed.“There is everything here -food, clothes and a place to live. The food here is much better (than at home). There is beef and eggs but I can only have potatoes at home.“
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