每日英语：Introspection in China Following Murder of Two-Month-Old Infant

Does the land of traditional family values and coddled Little Emperors take the lives of children too lightly?

introspection：反省，沉思　　　　coddled：溺爱，娇养　　　　

That’s the question ricocheting around the Chinese Internet this week as the country struggles to come to terms with the death of a two-month-old infant police say was killed after being discovered in the back of a stolen car.

ricocheting:反弹　　　　

“It was only because the child was an inconvenience. [The car thief] didn’t feel hostile towards this child’s life, he just disregarded it, like it was some common object. Isn’t this a portrait of the entirety of Chinese society?” wrote one user of Sina Corp.’s Weibo microblogging service in a widely reposted comment. “Induced labor, contaminated milk, collapsing bridges…life here is worth less than a goose feather.”

inconvenience：不便，麻烦　　　　disregarded：不顾，不理　　　　induced labor：引产　　

contaminated：污染的　　　　　　

The missing boy’s body was found on Wednesday after 48-year-old Zhou Xijun confessed to police the day before that he had strangled the child and buried the body in the snow, according to the official Xinhua news agency. Mr. Zhou told police that had found the child in the back of an SUV he had stolen on Monday in Changchun, capital of northeast China’s Jilin province, and that he abandoned the car in a nearby city after killing the child.

confess：承认，坦白，忏悔　　　　strangle：把...勒死，使...窒息，扼杀　　　　

The child’s father, Xu Jialin, said he had parked the vehicle in front of a grocery store he owned and ran in to turn on a stove, leaving his child in the back seat with the engine running, according to Xinhua. He said we he came out minutes later, the car and his son were gone. News of theft spread quickly on social media sites as local police launched a city-wide manhunt.

manhunt：搜捕，追捕，搜索　　　　

The child’s death has prompted outpourings of grief both online and in Changchun, where thousands gathered for a candlelight vigil on Tuesday night. It has also sparked a fervent debate about whether the murder was an act of individual evil or a reflection of something sinister in Chinese society.

outpouring：流露，倾泻，流出　　　　vigil：守夜，不眠　　　　fervent：热心的，强烈的，炽烈的

Among those arguing the latter on Wednesday was Yuan Yulai, a well-known and outspoken lawyer, who argued that brutal enforcement of family-planning policies had conditioned Chinese people to devalue life. “Please take a look at the bloody banners below,” he wrote on Sina Weibo, attaching photos of a number of crude one-child policy banners and slogans. “All you have to do is think about an outrageous policy that would lead local governments to abort a seven-month-old fetus, and suddenly it becomes clear the inevitability of this case. This society has already forgotten respect for life.”

outspoken：坦率的，直言不讳的　　　　brutal：野蛮的，残忍的，不讲理的　　　　devalue：贬值　　　　

outrageous：粗暴的，可恶的，令人吃惊的　　　　fetus：胎儿，胎　　　　

The post was forwarded tens of thousands of times, but not everyone agreed with it. Even some who proclaimed themselves strongly opposed to the way China has enforced its family planning policy questioned the connection.

tens of thousands of：成千上万，数以万计　　　　proclaimed：宣告　　　　

“Personally I am strongly against this kind of thing, but you can’t link it to the Changchun case,” wrote one anonymous microblogger. “There are also many people showing their love for this child and expressing their respect and affection for life. Please let’s not exploit the poor child any more.”

anonymous：匿名的，无名的　　　　

The debate seemed poised to continue on Thursday after a series of photos appeared online showing city administrative officers in the southern city of Guangzhou violently arresting a woman in front of her crying two-year-old daughter. The woman in question was an unlicensed peddler who began verbally abusing the administrative officers after asked her to leave the area, according the party-controlled Nanfang Daily.

poised：泰然自若的，静止的　　　　peddler：小贩，传播者　　　　

“No matter how evil someone is to you, no matter how strongly the law is on your side, you shouldn’t treat a mother like that in front of her child,” wrote one Sina Weibo user. “This is basic humanity.”

Similar rounds of soul-searching have gripped China in the past, most notably in 2011, when a two-year-old girl in the southern city of Foshan was struck by two cars and left lying in the road as more than a dozen pedestrians walked by. The toddler, Yueyue, died a few days later, leaving the country to wonder how so many people could ignore a small child in mortal danger.

grip：紧握，抓住　　　　notably：显著地，尤其　　　　pedestrian：行人，步行者，徒步的　　　　

toddler：婴儿，孩童　　　　mortal：致命的，不共戴天的，凡人的

“The world still hasn’t recovered from the Little Yueyue incident, and then comes this stolen car strangulation,” wrote one distressed microblogger. “ Who’s going to save our souls?”