High-profile human traffickers sentenced

A human trafficker involved in a high-profile child abduction case has been sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve, and an accomplice has been sentenced to life imprisonment.

The Liaocheng Intermediate People's Court in Shandong province handed down the verdicts on Wednesday.

The case attracted much public attention because the children they trafficked included the son of Guo Gangtang, whose search for his missing son was turned into a movie, Lost and Love, in 2015, with the lead role played by Hong Kong actor Andy Lau.

On Sept 21, 1997, Guo's two-and-a-half-year-old son was abducted near his home. Afterward, he printed his son's information on posters, made them into flags and attached them to his motorcycle. He then rode his motorcycle around the country in search of his son.

Over nearly 24 years of searching, he traveled over 500,000 kilometers, traversing dozens of provinces and going through 10 motorcycles in the process.

Guo and his family finally reunited with his son in 2021 with the help of the police. The two human traffickers were arrested later that year.

Hu Fuji, one defendant, was sentenced to death for the crime of child trafficking, with a two-year reprieve, lifetime deprivation of political rights and confiscation of all personal property. The court also restricted the reduction of Hu's sentence.

The other defendant, Tang Lixia, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the crime of child trafficking, with lifetime deprivation of political rights and confiscation of all personal property.

The court also ordered both defendants to jointly compensate the civil plaintiffs for material losses amounting to over 500,000 yuan ($70,000).

After a hearing that began on July 7 this year, the court found that between 1997 and 1998, the defendants had trafficked four children, including Guo's son. In 2001, Hu, along with others, trafficked another child.

Gao Xiaowei, Guo's lawyer, said that he was not satisfied with the verdict of the suspended death sentence for Hu after learning the verdict, and Guo may file a protest to the procuratorate.

According to Gao, Hu said in court he will appeal. Tang pleaded guilty in court, but didn't mention whether she would appeal or not.

Guo Gangtang said in the face of all the media attention that "Hu didn't show any repentance from beginning to end, and he even plans to appeal the verdict".

Guo attended the court hearing in July and stated after the hearing that during the first trial, the two defendants did not truly acknowledge their illegal activities. In court, they did not admit to child trafficking.