China's National Defence law jails man over affair with military personnel's wife

A man in China has been sentenced to 10 months behind bars for disrupting a “military marriage” by engaging in a relationship and cohabiting with the wife of a serving soldier in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

Under China’s Criminal Law, individuals knowingly cohabiting or marrying someone who is the spouse of a PLA soldier can face imprisonment of up to three years.

This stringent punishment reflects the state’s commitment to safeguarding not only the sanctity of a soldier’s marriage but also the dignity of military personnel, as outlined in China’s National Defence Law.

According to reports from the People’s Court Daily, a man named Ma received a 10-month jail term from a court in Dunhua, located in the northeastern province of Jilin, for the offense of disrupting a military marriage.

Ma, who had previously worked with a woman named Yuan, became involved with her in 2022, and they engaged in sexual activity on the same day they met. Despite learning that Yuan was married to a PLA soldier, Ma initially dismissed the seriousness of the situation and continued to refer to Yuan as his girlfriend.

Although Ma attempted to end the relationship upon realizing the gravity of the situation, they resumed dating a month later due to Ma’s inability to resist his feelings for Yuan. Subsequently, they began living together at Ma’s residence.

Yuan’s request for a divorce from her husband, who was stationed in another city for PLA service, aroused suspicion, leading him to investigate and discover evidence of her infidelity through surveillance cameras in their residential area. He then alerted the authorities.

Ma’s confession during the court proceedings resulted in a more lenient sentence, as noted in the report.

An editorial in the People’s Court Daily emphasized the importance of protecting military marriages, highlighting the challenges faced by soldiers who are often stationed far from their families. It denounced actions that undermine the stability of military unions, stressing their detrimental impact on soldiers’ morale and the army’s operational effectiveness.

While China provides support for military marriages during active service, such protection ceases upon completion of military duty.

In a related context, mainland actress Zhang Xinyu’s marriage to a PLA officer in 2018 garnered commendation from the China Discipline Inspection Newspaper, a publication under the oversight of the Communist Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

Apart from safeguarding soldiers’ marriages, Chinese laws also grant additional benefits to children of PLA members, such as extra points in important examinations like high school and university entrance tests.