Hospital head investigated for fake birth certificates

The president of a hospital in Xiangyang, Hubei province, has been detained and is under criminal investigation for allegedly colluding with online agencies to sell counterfeit birth certificates to cover up baby trafficking.

The obstetrics and gynecology department of the Xiangyang Jianqiao Hospital, a private hospital, has been ordered to close and relevant personnel are being monitored.

A special task force has been set up to probe the case and meet with a whistleblower to obtain further information, according to a circular released by the health commission in Xiangyang.

Suspicions arose after a post by a Sina Weibo user named Shangguanzhengyi, who has 250,000 followers, who said he had gone undercover at Xiangyang Jianqiao Hospital for a year and found that its president, surnamed Ye, had colluded with agencies in different regions and released information on a social media platform to vie for customers looking to buy fake birth certificates or infant vaccination records.

The post said potential buyers need to provide baby identification information and pay 96,000 yuan ($13,000). The hospital would create an entire dataset in its system, including fake records of the baby's mother registering, conducting prenatal examinations and giving birth.

The hospital would then make falsified birth certificates and vaccination records. These documents must be presented for a baby to enroll in nursery care facilities, kindergartens and primary schools, and to obtain household registration in China.

The illegal and fabricated information and certificates produced by the hospital can all be verified and accepted because they are uploaded and transmitted via official channels, according to the whistleblower.

The illegal business is intended to cover up sales of babies and enable trafficked babies to have legal documents registered with governments, the post said.

It added that Ye, the president, claimed that the hospital also works with agencies to seek customers looking to buy babies via promotion on social media platforms, a fact that is still pending further investigation. Baby trafficking is a serious crime in China and carries judicial punishment up to the death penalty, depending on the severity of the crime.

According to the whistleblower, one deal involved a baby girl who was sold in September for 118,000 yuan. After obtaining birth certificates and other documents at the hospital, the buyers of the girl managed to have her hukou, or household registration, settled in Sichuan province.

The Weibo user said on Tuesday afternoon that the head of Xiangyang's public security bureau met with him in person earlier that day and he has submitted all available evidence and information to officials.

The case has prompted shock and anger from netizens, who left comments calling for harsh penalties for everyone involved in the deals and a thorough investigation of such criminal groups, not only in Xiangyang, but also in other parts of the country.