Beijing: 'needle' abuse of kindergarten children shocks China

Chinese authorities are promising swift and decisive action after horrific allegations of child abuse surfaced at an upmarket nursery just a few miles east of the Communist party’s leadership compound in Beijing.

Since Wednesday, Chinese media outlets have reported claims from outraged parents that toddlers at the nursery in Beijing’s Chaoyang district were molested, spiked with needles and drugged with mysterious white pills.

“For two days my daughter has been crying: ‘I’m not sick, so why give me shots?’” a mother told China Women’s News, a party-run newspaper.

Another parent claimed children were told to take two white tablets each day after lunch, for reasons that are unclear.

At least eight children in two different classes were said to have been given white pills and brown syrup and were “forced to stand naked or were locked up in a dark room at the kindergarten.”

Relatives gathered outside the nursery on Thursday, to demand access to CCTV footage that may confirm the abuse.

The nursery is run by RYB Education, a company that is listed on the New York stock exchange and describes itself as China’s largest early childhood education service provider, with more than 4,400 staff.

In its Nasdaq profile, RYB says it was “founded on the core values of ‘care’ and ‘responsibility’”. It operates more than 1,100 nurseries and pre-school centres in 307 Chinese cities for children up to the age of six.

Reports detailing allegations of China’s third recent child abuse scandal triggered an outpouring of online rage. Earlier this month, a Shanghai nursery found itself at the eye of a similar storm after claims children in its care were force-fed wasabi and beaten.

Strikingly, after two days of high-profile coverage in China’s party-controlled press there was virtually no mention of the scandal in Beijing’s main newspapers on Friday morning. That suggested propaganda officials – nervous about the potential for a political backlash from China’s middle-classes – had ordered newsrooms to dial back their reporting.

In an online statement, RYB said it was “deeply sorry” for the situation and awaiting the conclusion of the government’s investigations.

“We are cooperating with the police by providing relevant surveillance material and equipment. The teachers involved have been suspended and we are cooperating with police,” it said.

Education authorities vowed that any staff found to have “caused physical or psychological harm” to children would be severely punished.