6 detained in forged birth certificate scandal in Hubei

Prosecutors in Xiangyang, Hubei province, have approved the detention of six health workers who were placed under police custody last week for allegedly fabricating birth certificates for profit, the local government said on Sunday.

According to a terse statement published by the Xiangyang government on its website, local police have also taken four other suspects into custody as they race to solve the high-profile case. The police are still awaiting official detention approval for those four.

The scandal has cast a spotlight on the role of fake birth certificates in whitewashing trafficked babies and raises concerns that the practice is an industrywide problem.

Xinhua News Agency reported on Sunday that a hospital in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, was shut down for its alleged involvement in similar offenses. Local police were still looking into the matter alongside the city's health authorities, Xinhua said.

According to the Xiangyang government statement, anti-graft authorities have launched probes into 13 government officials for suspected dereliction of duty.

"The Xiangyang city government will continue to pay close attention to the investigation, dig deep and investigate thoroughly, and severely punish illegal and criminal acts," the statement said.

It said a rectification campaign will be launched targeting the healthcare industry and the underlying problem of corruption.

Among those approved for detention was the president of the private Xiangyang Jianqiao Hospital, who was only identified by her surname Ye.

According to the statement, local health authorities had revoked the 55-year-old's doctor's license.

The inquiries were part of a sweeping inspection launched last week by the city in the northwest of Hubei.

The investigations followed an expose on Nov 6, in which an internet influencer alleged on microblogging platform Sina Weibo that Ye's hospital had colluded with agencies in different regions and made falsified birth certificates and vaccination records.

These documents are required by public security authorities for hukou, or household registration, and are needed for children to attend kindergartens and primary schools.

A longtime child-trafficking buster, the whistleblower, known on Sina Weibo as Shangguan Zhengyi with more than 280,000 followers, said in a post that he exposed the scandal after having gone undercover at the hospital for a year. He said potential buyers were charged 96,000 yuan ($13,000) for such service.

The Weibo user said that he had met with local police officers on Tuesday and submitted all available evidence and information. The hospital's obstetrics and gynecology department has been shut down since Wednesday.

According to the whistleblower, the illegal business is intended to cover up sales of babies who are eventually trafficked so that their buyers can acquire legal documents.

One deal involved a baby girl who was sold in September for 118,000 yuan. After obtaining a birth certificate and other documents at the hospital, the buyers of the girl managed to have her hukou settled in Sichuan province, the whistleblower said.

Baby trafficking is a serious crime in China, and those who are involved can receive the death penalty.