I saw a shocking news story these days. On October 15-16, some people at a highway service area in Shimi County, Ya’an City, Sichuan Province, saw a child with messy hair, completely naked, holding something in his mouth, running quickly with all limbs, “eating, crawling, running like a dog.” After residents reported to the police, local authorities did not respond, with the reason being:
“Because this matter had already been reported by the public before, and neighboring public security agencies had responded. After verification, the police learned that their family was traveling along the highway from south to north, with parents always accompanying the child, and there was no illegal or criminal abnormal situation. As for their living habits, the public security authorities also cannot interfere.”
Some bourgeois media conducted investigations and received responses from multiple sides:
“The police verified that this is a normal family, with children always under the supervision of guardians. ‘The children grew up in the mountains, receiving free-range education from a young age.’ The civil affairs bureau of Nanjian County, where the household is registered, stated that the family adopts an education philosophy of returning to nature, and investigations found no poverty or abuse cases.”
“Relevant departments in Nanjian County told reporters that, currently, preliminary investigations show that the involved family does not abuse their children. The family consists of four members: the mother is from out of town, the father is local, and their two children are 3 and 1 years old. Regarding the situation of the children not wearing clothes, the government, along with the Women’s Federation and police, visited multiple times to persuade, but the guardian insisted that the children follow natural upbringing, often close to nature, and it might be due to the hot weather locally, so they usually don’t let the children wear clothes. Besides that, no evidence of hitting or abusing the children was found. The family is not impoverished, and the parents apparently have no plans to send the children to kindergarten. Recently, they drove away with the children, traveling around.”
Thus, this matter was left unresolved. After understanding the situation, I felt very confused—simultaneously terrified, stunned, yet also amused and absurd. First, isn’t the video shot by the crowd already clear evidence of child abuse? Does it still require any other evidence to prove “illegal or criminal abnormality”? If not, then what does? If you show this video to any normal person, they would think it’s an act only committed by extremely morally corrupt perverts. But in the eyes of the Zhongxiu government, it’s considered permissible, reasonable, and normal behavior! Second, since they already admit it’s so-called “natural upbringing” and “letting children get close to nature,” that indicates the cause has been established. So why add the phrase “it might also be because of the hot weather locally, so they don’t let the children wear clothes”? Since it’s “also possible,” the cause is uncertain. Why is their reasoning so muddled? Is it “natural upbringing” or “hot weather”? It seems even the Zhongxiu itself can’t clarify. Because this is entirely fabricated.
Ultimately, this incident fully reflects the barbaric fascist patriarchy of the Zhongxiu regime. In today’s Chinese society, which has reverted to capitalist patriarchy within family relations, children and slaves are synonymous, and fathers and slave owners are also synonymous. Formal democracy exists only in hollow legal texts; Confucianism that binds and oppresses children is the true “law.” At this moment, where is the “Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Minors,” which is loudly promoted by the Zhongxiu ruling class?
“Article 4
To protect minors, the principle of the best interests of minors shall be upheld.
Matters involving minors shall meet the following requirements:
(1) Give minors special and prioritized protection;
(2) Respect the dignity of minors;
(3) Protect minors’ right to privacy and personal information;
(4) Adapt to the laws and characteristics of minors’ physical and mental development;
(5) Listen to minors’ opinions;
(6) Combine protection with education.”
— “Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Minors,” Chapter 1 General Provisions, revised April 26, 2024.
This is governance by Confucianism. In the family, children are powerless, everything is decided by the parents. So as long as the parents do not consider it abuse, it’s not abuse. Freedom is turned into “free-range education,” “returning to nature,” “natural upbringing,” and “close to nature,” but children have no freedom to choose because their growth is entirely controlled by their parents. Moreover, all instances of parental oppression in the family are dismissed as “family matters,” isolated from society; outsiders are strangers, and outsiders cannot interfere in “family affairs.” Even the police can only say they are “unable to intervene” in “their lifestyle.” In the Zhongxiu view, right and wrong become issues of abstract educational concepts, as if it’s ultimately all for the children’s benefit. From a true Marxist perspective, this is heinous abuse. But in the fascist morality of the Zhongxiu, it’s the ultimate expression of parental enslavement of children, and thus considered normal. If a child subjected to domestic violence dares to rebel against the oppressing parents, it becomes “abnormal.”
Seeing such things, I only feel angry and absurd—Zhongxiu openly propagates these reactionary fallacies, practically fooling the masses. It’s because they can’t find better reasons, so they say this. But this blatant shamelessness and brutality are deeply disturbing and tense. China’s class contradictions are becoming more intense, and its dark side is increasingly exposed in both breadth and depth.