OPINION> Commentary
Policy needs fresh look
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-10-08 07:48

A policy that forces people to divorce needs to be corrected, says an article in Procuratorial Daily. The following is an excerpt:

On Sept 18, a Tianjin court granted a divorce between Sun Zhen and Li Ping. An ordinary divorce case, of course, does not make headlines, but this one was different. Right after the judge's verdict, Sun could not help but weep.

"Whatever, she will always be my wife in my heart," he said. His mother-in-law told Sun: "You better take care of yourself. It is tough to live in Tianjin all by yourself. You do not need to bother about things here."

Since Sun still loves his wife and is on good terms with his mother-in-law, why did they decide to break up? The fact is they were forced to do so.

Li seriously injured herself when she fell from a chimney while cleaning it. Sun sold their only asset, their home, to pay for her surgery, but Li still needs medical treatment which costs 5,000 yuan per month.

Sun is not from Tianjin while his wife is. He therefore does not qualify for financial relief from the Tianjin municipal government. Divorcing Li will make her eligible for relief.

At the suggestion of the mother-in-law, Sun agreed to the divorce.

We can see that this divorce was forced by the current policy, which stipulates that Li would lose the right of receiving financial aid if she married a non-local and would be eligible only if she divorced.

In 2005, more than 20 elderly women were also forced to divorce their husbands in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, simply to get 200 yuan per month in subsidies.

Is divorce the only choice for them? We hope that the government can rectify this situation.

(China Daily 10/08/2008 page8)