XIAOHAO, a 5-year-old who was born in the United States, lives in China with his grandparents while his parents work in New York. Xiaohao was born shortly after his parents arrived in the United States. They have been working there ever since. At just 4 months old, Xiaohao was sent back to Houyu Village in Fuzhou, capital city of Fujian Province.

    Because he is an American citizen, the boy is set to go back to live with his parents to continue his education. Fuzhou alone has almost 10,000 children who were born overseas and then sent back by their parents, according to a report by Beijing News on Thursday.

    All of these children are foreign nationals and were born in countries in which their parents stay, with or without legal statuses. They are known as left-behind foreign children.

    Sent back from overseas

    Around 50,000 natives of Guantou Township in southern Fujian are living or working in more than 30 foreign countries, according to Ni Falin, chairman of the returned overseas Chinese association in the township.

    Most of these people went to work overseas, mainly in the United States, after China’s reform and opening up, which started in the early 1980s, according to Ni. Most of the villagers make a living in their adopted countries by running Chinese restaurants or doing business.

    Almost every family in the township has a relative who lives overseas.

    If a child is born in the United States, it automatically gets American citizenship. However, the parents have to work very hard to make ends meet, with some stuck at work for 13 hours a day. For this reason, they have no choice but to send their babies back to China, leaving them in the care of their grandparents.

    “Generally, these children are sent back just a few months after being born,” said Zheng Xiaohuang, a political advisor in Changle city, where Houyu Village is located.

    The demand is so huge that some courier service companies even offer to escort these foreign children back to China.

    One American courier service company charges US$1,000 for each child it escorts.

    Growing up without parents

    For most of these children, their grandparents are their next of kin.

    “I taught him how to walk, speak and dress himself,” said Zheng Xiumei, Xiaohao’s grandmother.

    In the year after Xiaohao’s return, Zheng received baby formula from New York, a free provision by the U.S. Government to low-income families.

    “The first word I taught him was ‘father’ and I showed him his parents’ picture,” said Zheng, who still feels the boy has missed out by not having parents around as male and female role models.

    Fifteen of the 32 children at Huaqiao Zhongxin Kindergarten in Houyu Village are American. The kindergarten chief, Zhou Rong, said most of these children have no recollection of seeing their parents. Some have even been known to address female teachers as mother.

    Spoilt, undisciplined

    Xiaohao has never been smacked. He is a poor student and spends a lot of time playing computer games. Moreover, his grandparents have no idea how to discipline him.

    Left-behind foreign children are markedly less obedient, according to Chen Meiqin, a kindergarten teacher.

    “For example, one 3-year-old often refuses to stand in line with other students and his grandparents have failed to reprimand him over his behavior at kindergarten,” said Chen.

    As well as growing up in homes without parents, these children are put through small kindergartens that lack basic educational resources, according to an article on the website of Fuzhou’s political advisory body.

    Zheng Qi, chairman of the Fujian native association in the United States, said that when these foreign children return to the United States, they have to start from scratch as they are so far behind their peers.

    An even bigger source of concern is that the children do not have medical insurance in China because they are foreign nationals.

    Inevitable return

    The children have a five-year visa to stay in China, so each year, a large batch returns to the country of their birth, according to Zou Rong, chief of Huaqiao Zhongxin Kindergarten in Houyu Village.

    In addition, parents of foreign children have to wait for their children to reach the ages of 21 to get a green card if they can’t get it by themselves.(Martin Li)