Monday, October 28, 2002
Unmarried Chinese couple fined for cohabitating
A story published today by the Telegraph reports that a student and his girlfriend in China have been fined £40 for sharing a room in a decision that has caused a furious debate on the widening gap between modern lifestyles and the Communist institutions set up to control the masses.
Hai Yian, a Shanghai student, said: "The police have no right to intervene in extra-marital affairs, let alone co-habitation aimed at saving money."
The controversy comes as senior surgeons at Shanghai's main hospitals revealed that spiraling abortion rates were being fueled by a rise in pre-marital sex. Chinese government policy makes it illegal for single women to have children.
