The Times reports that only one orphan whose parents were killed in the May 12 earthquake has successfully been adopted:
The process of finding new homes for 88 children whose parents have been confirmed dead or who have no relatives able to care for them has been hampered by bureaucratic red tape and by age-old prejudices against the disabled.
The revelation that adoptions of the children of victims from the earthquake was proceeding so slowly comes as the Chinese capital plays host to the Paralympics, which traditionally follows hard on the heels of the Olympic Games.
China has assigned enormous publicity to the Paralympics in the state-run media — part of an attempt to reduce traditional discriminations in a country where the disabled are kept out of sight usually.
