Man who slept with Chinese soldier’s wife was sentenced to 10 months in prison for “sabotaging military marriage”

A Hong Kong man has been sentenced to 10 months in prison for disrupting a “military marriage” by dating and living with the wife of an active Chinese People’s Liberation Army soldier. South China Morning Post said in a report. China’s criminal law stipulates that anyone who knowingly cohabits or marries the spouse of a PLA soldier may be sentenced to up to three years in prison.

China’s National Defense Law stipulates such severe penalties because the state has an obligation to provide special protection to military marriages and also has an obligation to respect and protect the honor of military personnel.

Chinese People’s Court Daily It is said that the man surnamed Ma was sentenced to 10 months in prison by the Dunhua City Court. Dunhua is located in the northeast of Jilin Province. He was convicted of breaking up a military marriage.

The man, Ma, met a woman named only Yuan. Both were former colleagues and the two had sex on the same day. Yuan apparently told Ma that she was married and her husband was from the People’s Liberation Army, but he didn’t take it seriously at first. He went to tell others that Yuan was his girlfriend. Some time later, when Yuan told Ma that having sex with her was a crime because she was married to a PLA soldier, she decided to end the romantic relationship.

A month later, they started dating again because Ma said he missed Yuan, and the two began living together in the former’s home. At the same time, Yuan filed for divorce from her husband, who suspected that she was having an affair. He was stationed in a separate city on PLA duty.

After the soldier surnamed Li went home for vacation, he checked the surveillance cameras in the community. He witnessed the incident and later called the police. Ma was given a lighter punishment for admitting the facts of the crime.

Mentality is weakened

this People’s Court Daily An editorial said extramarital affairs with spouses of People’s Liberation Army service members were immoral. “When marriage is threatened, the mentality of soldiers will be affected, and the combat effectiveness of the army will be weakened. Therefore, it is crucial to maintain the stability of military marriages. Any behavior that undermines military marriages should be severely punished.” said the editorial.