EXCLUSIVE Revealed: The dark truth about the thousands of Chinese babies snatched from their mothers and sold to childless couples in Britain and America
Abandoned by her parents, Fu Lian Doble was left outside a bank on a wintry Boxing Day in 1999. Or at least that is according to records kept by the Chinese orphanage that took her in. But in adult life, having been adopted by a British couple she calls mum and dad, she has discovered this is almost certainly a lie because the orphanage has been exposed for buying and selling babies for international adoption.
'It really hit home how much of our identity is grounded on just a few pieces of paper, and we can't even trust those,' she says.
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Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Revealed: The dark truth about the thousands of Chinese babies snatched from their mothers and sold to childless couples in Britain and America
Abandoned by her parents, Fu Lian Doble was left outside a bank on a wintry Boxing Day in 1999. Or at least that is according to records kept by the Chinese orphanage that took her in. But in adult life, having been adopted by a British couple she calls mum and dad, she has discovered this is almost certainly a lie because the orphanage has been exposed for buying and selling babies for international adoption. 'It really hit home how much of our identity is grounded on just a few pieces of paper, and we can't even trust those,' she says.
The Guardian
8 hours ago
- The Guardian
China ‘planned car collision' during Taiwan vice-president's visit to Prague
Taiwan's vice-president has said she will not be intimidated after reports by Czech intelligence that Chinese officials planned to stage a car collision when she was in Prague last year. Hsiao Bi-khim visited the Czech Republic in March 2024, in the first overseas visit by her and Taiwan's president, Lai Ching-te, after winning the election in January. It was reported at the time that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following her car – under police escort – from the airport. This week Prague intelligence officials told local media that the incident was part of a much larger and escalatory plan by Chinese diplomats and intelligence officers working out of the embassy in Prague, which included preparing to stage an apparent car collision. On Saturday, Hsiao thanked Czech authorities for ensuring her safety during the visit. 'The CCP's unlawful activities will NOT intimidate me from voicing Taiwan's interests in the international community,' she said in a social media post. The new details of the plan against Hsiao were revealed by Czech public radio service, Irozhlas, on Thursday. Petr Bartovský, the director of the Czech military intelligence service, told Irozhlas that the driver stopped by police was only following Hsiao, but that the service had also identified plans, run out of the Chinese embassy, to 'demonstratively confront Ms Hsiao'. Jan Pejšek, a spokesperson for the service, said the plan involved an 'attempt by the Chinese civil secret service to create conditions to perform a demonstrative kinetic action against a protected person, which however did not go beyond the phase of preparation'. The Czech reporting team said this was understood to be a collision with Hsiao's car. The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know. If you have something to share on this subject you can contact us confidentially using the following methods. Secure Messaging in the Guardian app The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories. Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said. If you don't already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS/Android) and go to the menu. Select 'Secure Messaging'. SecureDrop, instant messengers, email, telephone and post See our guide at for alternative methods and the pros and cons of each. Pejšek said the other activity of the Chinese actors went 'to the point of endangering' Hsiao. 'These activities, which flagrantly breach the obligations arising from the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations, were conducted, amongst others, by individuals holding diplomatic posts at the Chinese embassy in Prague,' Pejšek said. Taiwan's China-focused mainland affairs council on Friday condemned the Chinese actions, which it said 'seriously threatened the personal safety of vice-president Hsiao and her entourage'. It demanded an explanation and public apology. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Guo Jiakun, said Chinese diplomats 'always observe the laws and regulations of host countries', and that the Czech government had 'grossly interfered in China's internal affairs' by allowing Hsiao to visit, calling her a 'diehard Taiwan independence separatist' – a designation for which China has threatened the death penalty. Sign up to Headlines Europe A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day after newsletter promotion 'China urges the relevant party to avoid being incited or used by 'Taiwan independence' forces, and refrain from creating troubles, spreading rumours, and disrupting and undermining the bilateral relations.' The Czech foreign ministry said it had summoned the Chinese ambassador over the incident at the time but did not comment further on Friday. Beijing intends to annex Taiwan under a claim that it is a Chinese province currently run by separatists, and vociferously objects to other governments acting in any way which lends legitimacy to Taiwan's democratically elected government.
Telegraph
16 hours ago
- Telegraph
Farmer saves stranded neighbour with drone
A jerry-rigged drone has been used to airlift a man who was trapped on a rooftop in southern China by rising flood waters. Footage has emerged showing the young man being rescued on Tuesday evening when a neighbour spotted him calling for help from the roof of his crumbling two-story house in the city Liuzhou. Fast-flowing waters coursing through the streets had prevented rescue speedboats from coming to the man's assistance for the previous hour. The neighbour, who gave his name as Mr Lai, devised a rescue plan using his agricultural drone, a device capable of carrying weights of up to 100kg, which is normally used to haul bricks and cement or spray pesticides. Mr Lai fashioned a makeshift harness by tying a sandbag to one end of the drone's lifting rope and attaching a safety buckle, local media said. Safe landing He flew the drone to the man and instructed him over the phone to sit on the sandbag and to tie his hands and feet with the safety buckle to the drone's rope. Footage captured by a witness shows the drone then soaring 65ft into the air with the man hanging underneath, his legs dangling through the harness. The drone then navigates through trees and pylons before safely depositing its passenger on a road below. The rescue operation took less than two minutes. Mr Lai, who first learnt how to pilot a drone in August, admitted what he did was illegal but said he feared the house could collapse at any moment. 'I know that manned drones are illegal, but at the time I was worried about the house collapsing and was eager to save people, so I don't recommend that you imitate it,' he told The Beijing News. China hit by storms Over the past two days, 13 major rivers in Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi and Hainan were hit by storms and had risen above their warning levels, state television reported, citing the Ministry of Water Resources. Record downpours in Rongjiang, in the south-east of the country, left six dead and forced more than 80,000 people to flee their homes. The amount of rain that fell over 72 hours was double the city's average for June.
