Law must better protect minors

On Thursday, a local public security bureau in the city of Yantai in Shandong province said on its official Weibo account that it had reopened an earlier investigation in October into sexual assault allegations against Bao Yuming after more evidence came to light.

The foster daughter of Bao told the media that she had first told the police that he was sexually assaulting her in 2015, when she was 14.

Bao, a senior lawyer and nonexecutive director of ZTE, has denied the girl's accusations, calling them "totally fake".

Whether Bao is guilty or not remains to be verified, but the case does highlight some issues in the protection of minors.

Before the adoption, the girl lived together with her mother. The girl's mother contacted Bao after seeing a social media post saying that he wanted to adopt a girl.

Bao was said to have "adopted" the girl in November 2015, when she was 14 years old and he was 43. According to China's Adoption Law, if a single male adopts a female child, there should be an age gap of at least 40 years. Therefore, the "adoption" was illegal.

Didn't the mother know how dangerous that move was? She had never met Bao before and knew nothing about him.

Also the victim went to the police in Yantai on Dec 31, 2015, claiming she had been raped by Bao. In early 2016, she reported the case to the police in Beijing, after which police searched their home.

The police might not have found enough evidence to support the girl's allegations; however, it should have been easy for them to recognize that the "adoption" was illegal.

We hope that the case will lead to better protection of minors.

- ZHANG ZHOUXIANG, CHINA DAILY