Case tests country’s shifting sexual morals
A twice-divorced computer science professor who spent the past six years practicing group sex and partner swapping is heading to a Chinese prison for three and a half years, a harsh penalty for a crime the government there calls “crowd licentiousness,” the New York Times reports. Ma Yaohai, 53, organized and engaged in at least 18 orgies, mostly in his two-bedroom apartment in Nanjing that he shared with his elderly mother, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. Ma intends to appeal, and says his sex life is his own business, adding that “privacy needs to be protected.” Ma was arrested in August and went on trial last month, drawing attention across the country for the questions his case raises about the government’s attempts to crack down on sexual freedom and privacy, just as economic growth and the Internet are overturning tradition. Tens of thousands of Chinese reportedly engage in partner swapping, even though laws against swingers can result in five-year prison terms. The case is being hotly debated online and even in some official news organizations. “This kind of behavior is a citizen’s personal freedom; this is a part of the private rights of citizens,” wrote a man named Yi Bo on a site maintained by the propaganda department of Shanxi Province.