•        Impoverished dad tries to sell his son
        •        Angry onlookers break up auction
        •        "He wasn't interested in the money"
AN EIGHT-year-old boy was chained to a lamppost by his impoverished father and auctioned off to the highest bidder.
Yong Tsui tried to entice passers-by into making an offer with assurances that his son, Fai, was a hard worker, The Daily Mail reports.
However, the auction came to a violent end after onlookers heard bidders asking how little they would have to feed the boy.
Several people attacked Mr Yong, with one putting him in a headlock until the police arrived.
Mr Yong told officers in Wuhan, central China, that his wife had died three years ago and that he could no longer afford to take care of the boy.
"He has no job, no home and no money. He says he wasn't interested in the money, just finding a home for the boy," said police, who have put boy into care.
Mr Yong was reportedly inspired to auction his boy after reading about a rickshaw driver who chained his two-year-old son to a lamppost while he went out to work because he couldn't afford childcare.
Pictures of the toddler, Cheng Jingdan, were published around the world and led to nursery giving him a free place.

Child abduction and child slavery is rife in China.
Last week police in Wuhan freed two naked girls who had been locked in a basement for almost a year.
They were rescued after a repairman found a note they had managed to smuggle out in a broken television.

i guess the economy is not too good eh?

this story is kinda nuts

Where are the cops in China.  This is not just a human rights issue, it's just entirely inhumane to sell a boy, especially at his age.  He already can comprehend what's going on.  It's not like he's just born.

Poor boy looks so helpless, so sad. I kind of fell for his dad, it wasn't about the money and maybe he just didn't know what to do and this was a quick solution to his problem. His intentions were good, but just choose the wrong way. Like he said it wasn't about the money he just wanted someone that was able to take care of his son. At first before i read this story i thought he was heartless, but after reading it i understand.

I know someone - grown woman - who was sold when she was 6 years old.  

Her parents took her to a restaurant where they met another couple, and left without her, she went home with her new guardians.  No paperwork, no background checks, just cash.  And that was in HONG KONG ...

Of course it's the money - not enough money to feed the boy and the temptation of a cash infusion at the same time.  It takes a HUGE pressure for a Chinese guy to give up his first (and only) son ...

It is a bit like Jackie Chan & Sammo Hung whereby their parents effectively 'sold/sent' them to an martial arts opera school where they were worked insanely hard. But this was better than being at home as they couldn't afford to feed them.

but it seems like some of the onlookers were quite entertained and was smiling in the photo, what is up with that! but stories like this is just too sad, why couldn't they just give the kid up for adoption.

Was this a worse option than taking the boy to foster care?  How bad is the system in China for abandoned kids?  Bad enough that being sold on the street would be better?  

That is exactly what I thought when I first read this post. If they didn't want their child that bad, how come they couldn't put their child up for adoption? But for those folks who thinks they can try and make a profit out of a kid, that's just ridiculous.

Thanks for sharing. It would be nice of you to post a link back to the original source in you subsequent news postings.