He Ping (Shanghai Evening Post): China's laws relating to child abuse generally address parent-child relationships, but fail to cover abuse of children by their teachers. Punishing a teacher accused of abusing a student requires physical evidence of "intentional harm." Without such visible damage, the lawsuit is invalid. In the Wenling case, the child was not seriously hurt, so his teacher could not be criminally charged. Instead, the police did arrest the teacher for provoking a disturbance. In this crime a suspect can face jail time of up to seven years if convicted. This example shows that child abuse must be addressed by the Criminal Law.

Wang Yong (Procuratorial Daily): Children are defenseless and must be given special protection under the law. Abuse affects children not only physically but mentally as well. However, it's not easy for the law to judge the damage on one's mental health, as it is not outwardly evident. It not only makes the identification of the crime difficult, but also challenges the parents as they try to defend their children's rights.

Liu Xianquan (Legal Daily): Is it necessary for child abuse to be covered in the Criminal Law? While it is a global issue, criminal legislation differs from one country to another.

For example, in New Zealand there are special charges relating to child abuse, referred to as the crime of abusing minors. Those who are accountable for abusing or allowing others to abuse minors under theirjurisdiction will be jailed for up to five years. In regions like Hong Kong, those who are responsible for child abuse will be jailed for a maximum of 10 years.

Although not all countries and regions have a special crime on child abuse in their criminal codes, most of them attach great importance to the problem.

Given the legal punishment of child abuse around the world, we find that if a country is able to effectively safeguard children's rights and interests, they have one thing in common: They have a well-developed and mature legal system on child protection.

In Britain, once social workers have found an abused child, they will immediately contact the police, and at the same time move the child to a safe place. In Japan, the government has set up a special consultation agency for child abuse cases. Professional workers will inspect and deal with the case, helping to work out solutions.

Based on these examples, we can see that setting up a special crime for child abuse is not the only way to solve the problem. We need a comprehensive reporting and supervisory mechanism to effectively protect children and maximize their rights and interests.

As for the child abuse scandals recently made public, I don't think we need to set up a child abuse crime in the Criminal Law. Instead, I think it's unwise to add a new crime to the Criminal Law following every scandal. We already have laws to curb child abuse. Some child abuse cases are not so serious that have to be treated as a crime; thus, it's unnecessary to ask the suspects take criminal accountability. Criminal Law only works when all the other laws fail to address the issues at hand.

Of course, those who abuse children should be always severely punished. If what they do is a crime, they should be punished with the charge of "intentional injury." If it is not serious, then it's improper to deliberately link them to "crimes." It's enough to punish them with administrative regulations or fines.

The priority now is to set up an inclusive and comprehensive legal system on child protection, as well as special child protection welfare agencies. This is the most effective way to protect children's health, physically and mentally.

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