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China's Monogamy System Under Challenge: Expert
China's monogamous society is being threatened by increasing reports of bigamy, concubinage, illegal cohabitation, and extra-marital affairs, China's legal experts and experts on women's issues have warned.
In particular, the mistress phenomenon has been on the rise in recent years, said Hu Kangsheng, deputy director of the Legislative Affairs Commission under the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee.
He cited statistics from the Guangdong Provincial Women's Federation showing complaints it handled from angry wives amounted to 219, 235 and 348 yearly from 1996 to 1998.
"Illicit concubinage is posing a serious threat to China's statutory rule of monogamy," he said.
"Bao Er Nai," which literally means "keeping a second wife" in Cantonese, refers to providing financial and material support to mistresses. Some mistresses are kept under pretense of being maids or secretaries.
People from various social strata have engaged in the practice, ranging from overseas businessmen, heads of enterprises, corporate managers, and even some Party and government officials, according to officials from south China's Guangdong Province.
The alarming trend has led to the deterioration of families and even murder, posing a threat to social stability, Hu noted.
"It also disrupted the implementation of the state's family planning policy," he said.
Bigamy is prohibited by law in China. But, Hu pointed out, since bigamists don't tend to broadcast their activities, it's not easy to gather evidence necessary to convict them.
Some legal experts have suggested that stipulations be added to the Marriage Law that would protect spousal rights. Others think the Marriage Law should state that fidelity and cohabitation between spouses should be mandatory.
Whether marital loyalty should be put under legal control or moral surveillance remains a controversial topic in China.
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