China to better supervise minors' guardianship

Chinese authorities on Monday pledged stricter supervision over minors' protection and guardianship amid a growing number of cases in which juveniles have had their rights violated.

Those found to have violated juveniles' rights will be barred from acting as guardians in future, in accordance with administrative and legal procedures, according to a statement from the Supreme People's Court (SPC), the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security.

Yang Shihai, of Jinsha County in southwest China's Guizhou Province, was sentenced to one year and six months in jail in July for abusing his 10-year-old daughter.

In Nov. 2012, five abandoned children were found dead in a dumpster in which they had lit a fire to keep warm on a cold night in the city of Bijie in Guizhou.

"Such cases have revealed China's loose supervision over juveniles' protection and guardianship," said Huang Ermei, vice president of the SPC.

"Parents and guardians' liability consciousness should be improved, and their guardianship should be revoked if they fail to fulfill their duties," said Ma Guohua, deputy secretary general of the All China Lawyers Association.

China has no formal regulations on the guardianship of juveniles.