Introduction Recently, table tennis stars Ai Fukuhara and Hongjie Jiang once again became a hot topic due to issues of divorce involving "snatching children" and "hiding children." In July of last year, the issue of the female party visiting the child alarmed the police. This summer, a press conference was held regarding the issue of child custody. Two years after the divorce, the grievances between this once-loving couple remain unresolved.

On the afternoon of July 27, Jiang Hongjie held a press conference in Japan, claiming that due to Fukuhara Ai's complete disappearance, he had not seen the child for a year. He requested Fukuhara Ai to comply with the judgment of the Japanese court and hand over the child to him. Fukuhara Ai quickly responded, accusing the male party of lying about being out of contact with the child and criticizing him for not bringing adult matters to the public. She mentioned that organizing a press conference publicly was harmful to the privacy protection of children. She demanded that the male party comply with the Taipei court's requirement not to publicly discuss family matters.

Who is lying between them is unknown, but the drama of divorce involving "snatching children" and "hiding children" is frequently happening around us.

The Dongsheng Court of Haidian District People's Court in Beijing once analyzed divorce cases involving custody of minors. In divorce cases involving disputes over custody of infants and young children, about 60% of the cases involve one party or its parents forcibly taking the child away from the original place of residence, hiding the child, or preventing the other party from visiting the child to varying degrees of infringement.

Why do people "snatch children" in divorce?

Snatching children is to fight for custody rights. Many people think that as long as they snatch the child, they can gain custody. So, is there a necessary connection between snatching the child and obtaining custody?

According to Article 1084 of the Civil Code, for children under 2 years old, they are generally awarded to the mother, and for children over 8 years old, their opinion is considered. Basically, the child will be awarded to whoever the child wants to live with. The most difficult cases to handle are for children between 2 and 8 years old, and most custody disputes between the two parties focus on this age group. If both parties want the child to live with them during this age range, the court will decide based on the specific circumstances and in the best interests of the minor child.

What does "in the best interests of the minor child" mean? Is it the parents' income, educational level, living conditions? The law does not provide specific regulations, giving the presiding judge significant discretion.

Based on past judicial practices, economic capacity is generally not the decisive factor in determining child custody, as long as the party's ability to work is not extremely restricted.

Among many factors, the long-term living arrangement with the child and the one who has been primarily responsible for the child's care are the most important considerations for the judge. There are two reasons: first, to avoid adverse effects on the child's healthy growth due to changes in living environment; second, to consider enforcement pressure. The law clearly stipulates that compulsory enforcement cannot be applied to a child's person.

Article 68 of the "Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of the Marriage and Family Part of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China (I)" provides: "For individuals or organizations that refuse to assist the other party in exercising the right to visit, the people's court may, according to the law, take measures such as detention or fines, but it cannot forcibly enforce the child's person or visiting behavior."

So, living with and caring for the child more is the key to competing for custody, which also lays the hidden danger for snatching the child.

Many parents, in order to compete for custody of the child, snatch and control the child before filing for divorce, preventing the other party from contacting or visiting the child. They artificially create the conditions prioritized by the law, such as "the child has lived with the party for a longer time, and changing the living environment is significantly detrimental to the child's healthy growth," to achieve the goal of seeking custody.

However, can this guarantee winning custody? Looking at past judicial precedents, it's not absolute. During divorce, violent actions of snatching the child and hiding the child may even backfire, causing the person to lose custody of the child.

Chonggang Civil Judgment (No. 00675) by the Chongsheng Court of Haidian District, Beijing (2015): The court adheres to the principle of restraining improper behavior. If any parent uses underage children as controlled tools, obstructs the other party's visitation by using the children, it should be deemed as improper exercise of custody rights, artificially cutting off the plaintiff's blood and kinship, creating excessive obstacles, which can easily lead to a lack of care for the child during the growth process, detrimental to the child's healthy development.

Hengdong County People's Court Civil Judgment (No. 721) by the Civil Court (2016): The court believes that the act of snatching violates the principle of good faith and credit. If the judgment allows the child to be raised by the snatching party, it objectively supports and encourages the act of snatching the child, which is tantamount to favoring evil and fearing the righteous. This obviously does not contribute to the formation of a good social atmosphere of honesty and credit, which punishes the evil and promotes the good.

On June 1, 2021, the "Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Minors," revised and passed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, came into effect. Article 24 clearly stipulates: "When parents of a minor divorce, they shall properly handle matters such as the custody, education, visitation, and property of the minor, and listen to the opinions of minors who have the capacity to express their wishes. They shall not vie for custody by means of snatching or hiding minors." This is the first legislation aimed at the issue of vying for child custody in divorce, and it will also be a benchmark for future judicial adjudication of disputes over child custody.

Snatching children is because one is unwilling to transfer custody of the child.

After determining the ownership of custody, the party directly responsible for raising the child should live with the child, and the child should be raised by them. However, cases where the party not responsible for raising the child after divorce refuses to "transfer" the child are not uncommon.

In a published list of "Top Ten Cases to Safeguard Women's and Children's Rights in Accordance with the Law" by the All-China Women's Federation, there is a successful case of solving the problem of snatching and hiding minors by means of "refusing to execute the court judgment or ruling" after divorce.

In this case, after the court ruled that the child's custody belonged to the woman, the man still hid the child in another place. Ultimately, the court transferred the case to the district public security bureau for investigation, alleging that the man, Wang, was suspected of "refusing to execute the court judgment or ruling." After the public security bureau reviewed and filed the case, Wang was taken into custody under criminal law enforcement. Under the deterrent effect of detention, the parties returned to rationality and let go of their grievances.

Snatching children is because visitation is hindered.

The law stipulates that the party not directly responsible for raising the child after divorce has the right to visit the child. However, if the other party hides the child and does not allow visitation, or if the visited child does not cooperate, or if there are outsiders, such as elderly people living together, hindering the visit, can the court be requested for forced enforcement?

The difficulty in enforcing visitation rights is a long-standing and real issue. Due to the unique nature of visitation cases, which involve minors' personal issues, the court cannot enforce the child's person forcibly. The court can only persuade and educate the party not performing the agreed visitation obligations in accordance with the principle favorable to the minor child's physical and mental health. The court may impose fines or detention for a few days on the party who fails to perform the visitation cooperation obligation as agreed. However, from the perspective of the practical effect, the punishment for hindering visitation rights is not strict, making the snatch and hiding behaviors more audacious, making it a challenging issue to uphold visitation rights. The effectiveness of enforcing visitation rights remains worrisome, and more feasible measures need to be explored in the future.

How to deal with incidents of snatching children

Preserve evidence of "snatching children." If the other party snatches and hides the child, one must remain calm and collect and preserve evidence. Surveillance footage from the surrounding neighborhood or hallways can be obtained from the property management of the residential area. Inquire if neighbors heard any disputes, etc., to prove the situation. In addition, actively communicate with the other party regarding returning the child, and retain relevant chat records and call recordings.

Report to the police promptly and seek assistance from the Women's Federation. Article 24 of the "Law on the Protection of Minors" stipulates: "When parents of a minor divorce, they shall properly handle matters such as the custody, education, visitation, and property of the minor, and listen to the opinions of minors who have the capacity to express their wishes. They shall not vie for custody by means of snatching or hiding minors." Based on this provision, you can report to the police or seek help from the Women's Federation. Although the police may not respond by claiming it is a family matter, the records and acknowledgment from the police can be used as evidence to prove that the other party violently snatched the child, which is detrimental to the child's healthy growth, serving as powerful evidence in future divorce litigation for custody.

Apply for behavior preservation from the court during the divorce lawsuit. In 2018, Guangdong Province made relevant regulations: if a party applies for behavior preservation due to the other party's snatching, transfer, or hiding of a minor child, the court shall order the other party to surrender the child, or prohibit them from snatching the child again. If, after the court makes a behavior preservation ruling, the other party does not repent and still snatches or hides the child, the people's court can impose a fine or detention.

File a guardianship lawsuit with the court. In the first "Marital Custody Dispute Case" in China involving marital guardianship rights, after the couple separated, the child continued to live with the woman. When the man and his mother visited the child, they took the breastfeeding child away without allowing the woman to visit the child for various reasons. The woman then filed for divorce, and during the lawsuit, both parties' relatives clashed over the child's custody issue and reported to the police. During the period of the lawsuit, the woman filed a lawsuit on marital guardianship rights, requesting the court to order the man and his mother to return the child and allow her to continue to exercise her guardianship rights over the child in accordance with the law. Subsequently, the Hebei Province Baoding Intermediate People's Court made a second-instance judgment on the case, ordering the man and his mother to return the daughter within a specified period, to be directly raised by the woman. At the same time, to protect the man's legitimate rights and interests, the judgment also made detailed and specific arrangements regarding his visitation rights.

In conclusion, snatching children and hiding children in divorce, on the surface, may appear as parents' love for the child and their reluctance to part with the child, unable to accept the fact of separation from their flesh and blood. However, behind the actions are the unresolved grievances and dissatisfaction between the two adults in the marriage. The dissatisfaction and unwillingness in the marriage cause both parties to continue to tug and fight over the child's issue.

It is often said that the innocent child is the one who suffers the most in a divorce. The reason the child is hurt is not that there is no longer a complete family but because they fear the loss of complete love. If a marriage has come to an end, the end of the fate is for the couple, but the identity of parents needs to continue. As divorced parents, learning to communicate after divorce, letting go of grievances, and negotiating well on the issue of the child is true love for the child.