SEX AND LAW IN CHINA.docVIP

SEX AND LAW IN CHINA businessman， angel investor， and micro-blog celebrity Xue Biqun （薛必群） was caught with a prostitute barely a third his age in a Beijing apartment， the media had a fi eld day joyously reporting his fall from grace. Not only did the incident make national newspaper headlines， alongside becoming the hottest internet story of the week， even the all-powerful state media CCTV ran with the story. No stone was left unturned， and the media reveled in every salacious detail； whilst Xue was a moneyed man， at least as far as prostitutes were concerned， he was a late payer. Powerful men paying for sex is nothing new and is unlikely to surprise anyone， but it was his prominent online identity that opened him up to such close scrutiny. Xue had a huge following on Sina Weibo and was judged as a credible commentator in both economic and social affairs， not to mention being lauded for his high-profi le philanthropy. His Weibo infl uence was so signifi cant that， if he tweeted about a social issue at dawn， by dusk the internet would be a whirlwind of various movers and shakers trying to make good on Xue’s words. He was， in short， a man who could get things done. Technically， under Chinese law， all are equal， but it is often―as it is elsewhere in the world―that some are more equal than others. According to the PRC Administrative Penalties for Public Security， visiting a prostitute is punishable by 10 to 15 days imprisonment alongside a fi ne of 5，000 RMB. During his detainment， Xue confessed that he was in frequent contact with at least 10 prostitutes and often liked to hire more than one woman at the same time. While exchanging money for sex is an offense， paying for group sex escalates the crime to“group licentiousness” （聚众淫乱罪 jzh7ng y！nlu3n zu#）. With the extra pleasure comes the extra risk， and the facts are simple： Chinese law criminalizes all group sex involving more than two people； orgies are strictly off the menu. Such activities are punishable by imprisonm