As my regular readers know, I am vehemently anti-west. It follows that I have some respect for countries that stand up to the likes of the US, with China being a key example. That said, no country gets a free pass from criticism, and so today I will take a look at where China, and even more so Vietnam, gets it wrong...

Death in China

Last week, Mu Forum member HumanBeing shared a news story from 2024 about three men being executed in China for having sex with girls under the age of 14. Jim Burton was quick to point out that the cases apparently did not involve actual violence, at least based on the descriptions we have. Now, there are aspects of the cases that I find very troubling; they do not suggest true consent, even though I do believe children are capable of giving it. In my opinion, however, only true violence or inability to resist would justify a very harsh sentence.

China disagrees:

Article 236 Whoever rapes a woman by violence, coercion or any other means shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than 10 years.

Whoever has sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 14 shall be deemed to have committed rape and shall be given a heavier punishment.

Whoever rapes a woman or has sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 14 shall, in any of the following circumstances, be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years, life imprisonment or death:

(1) the circumstances being flagrant;

(2) raping a number of women or girls under the age of 14;

(3) raping a woman before the public in a public place;

(4) raping a woman with one or more persons in succession; or

(5) causing serious injury or death to the victim or any other serious consequences.

Essentially, then, violence is not a 'requirement' for execution if the girl is under 14. Having two 13-year-old female partners could suffice, making China a scary place for a sexually active girllover!

China's laws, however, are eminently reasonable compared to Vietnam's.

Punished for love in Vietnam

Vietnam defines 'rape' of a person under 16 as follows:

Article 142. Rape of a person under 16

1. A person who commits any of the following acts shall face a penalty of 07 - 15 years' imprisonment:

a) Use of violence or threatens to use violence or takes advantage of the victim's defenselessness or other tricks to engage in non-consensual sexual intercourse or other sexual activities with a person aged from 13 to under 16.

b) Engaging in sexual intercourse or other sexual activities with a person under 13.

What I find most interesting is the list of aggravating factors:

2. This offence committed in any of the following cases shall carry a penalty of 12 - 20 years' imprisonment:

a) The offence is of an incestuous nature ;

b) The offence results in the victim's pregnancy;

c) The offence results in 31% - 60% physical disability of the victim;

d) The victim suffers from 11% - 45% mental and behavioral disability because of the offence;

dd) The offence is committed against a person for whom the offender is responsible for providing care, education, or medical treatment;

e) The offence has been committed more than once;

g) The offence is committed against 02 or more people;

h) Dangerous recidivism.

I'll discuss the weird x% mental and behavioral disability thing below, but what I want to talk about here is (e).

A person would tend to have sex with a partner more than once within the context of a relationship. Should that not be a mitigating factor?

According to Vietnamese law, a person who violently raped a random child in a park would be a less serious offender than a person who had a loving sexual relationship with a 12-year-old. After all, the violent rapist 'only did it once'!

It's also worth noting that the violent rape of an adult carries a lighter sentence than consensual sex with a 12-year-old, ranging from 2-7 years unless aggravating factors are present.

And what justifies death in Vietnam?

3. This offence committed in any of the following cases shall carry a penalty of 20 years' imprisonment, life imprisonment, or death:

a) The offence is committed by an organized group;

b) The offence is committed by more than one person against one person;

c) The offence is committed against a person under 10;

d) The offence results in ≥ 61% physical disability of the victim.

dd) The victim suffers from 46% mental and behavioral disability or above because of the offence;

e) The offender commits the offence in the knowledge of his HIV infection;

g) The offence results in the death or suicide of the victim.

Remember the part about mental and behavioral disability from above? Well, it makes a return here as a factor that might lead to the offender being put to death.

I do not know how Vietnamese courts determine "mental and behavioral difficulty", but a percentage rating seems incredibly subjective when the consequence is potentially being executed. It's especially problematic considering that harm from consensual AMSC is more likely to be secondary; that is, the result of the child being made to believe they were abused, rather than the sex itself.

Context

I do want to put this into context.

There are few English reports of the death penalty being applied for these offenses in China, and zero English reports coming from Vietnam. Execution is seemingly not common as a response to AMSC. But what really bothers me is that violence is not the main factor in determining the sentence, especially in Vietnam. It appears that "eww... gross!" is doing harder work than protecting from objective harm.