Underage models draw public ire

Web users and experts have lashed out over widely-circulated photos on Sina Weibo showing underage girl models wearing bikinis standing beside cars at an auto show in Wuhan, Hubei Province Friday.

The Wuhan-based Changjiang Times reported over the weekend that six girls aged under six years old were seen posing beside cars in bikinis on the second day of the five-day 2012 Chutian Auto Culture Festival.

A majority of Web users left vitriolic comments criticizing the show's organizer and the girls' parents, saying that they are ruining the next generation.

Zeng Fanlin, an associate professor of children's psychology at East China Normal University, told the Global Times Sunday that children shouldn't be sent to such shows except to demonstrate important knowledge, such as how to use child safety seats.

"It might destroy their childlike innocence and hurt their psychological health if they enter the adult world too early," Zeng said, adding that authorities should strictly supervise such commercial activities.

However, 7-wind, the Wuhan-based model company that arranged for the girls to participate, said that those girls were not participating in the show but were instead taking part in a qualification competition through which the company was selecting child models.

Zhang Ping, the company's manager, claimed that they had never asked the six girls to wear bikinis and they were only asked to pose in front of cars.

The Wuhan-based Shangge Exhibition Company, the auto show's organizer, asked the public not to judge from an adult's perspective since this simply showed the girls' innocence and confidence.

An insider surnamed Li, who works in luxury car sales, told the Global Times that the show organizer was trying to draw public's attention. "This might be a trick that large auto shows will never try," she said.

Some, however, said the public were overreacting. "We were misunderstood. My daughter has become more confident by participating in this show," said the mother of one of the six child models.