Original version

BBC World Service East Asia

Witness History

Podcasts

Factual: Life Stories

Factual: History

History as told by the people who were there

History as told by the people who were there.

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

Witness History: Hong Kong's abandoned children

Documentaries

Hong Kong's abandoned children

23/03/2020 GMT

BBC World Service - Witness History, Hong Kong's abandoned children

The Chinese babies left on the streets of 1960s Hong Kong in the hope they'd be adopted.

In the 1950s and 60s, hundreds of thousands of Chinese fled to the British colony of Hong Kong to escape from the Great Famine. Conditions for the new arrivals were so desperate that some families chose to abandon their children in the streets so they would be taken in by orphanages. Their plight made headlines around the world and many were adopted in homes in Britain and other English-speaking countries. Laura FitzPatrick talks to one of the adopted children, now known as Debbie Cook.

PHOTO: The young Debbie Cook (Family Archive)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Witness History

Hong Kong's abandoned children

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service East Asia

About BBC World Service