ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the rising trend of Chinese-foreign divorce in contemporary China, which is commonly associated in newspaper coverage with five issues, the introduction of regulations simplifying the procedures for marriage and divorce, cultural differences, long-term separation of couples; deception, infidelity and domestic violence and the activities of unscrupulous matchmaking agencies. It then examines in more detail three key areas that are associated with the increased incidence of Chinese-foreign divorce in twenty-first-century China: deception; adultery, bigamy and domestic violence; and the role of illegal Chinese-foreign marriage introduction agencies in promoting fraudulent marriages. The chapter concludes by summarizing the prominent features of the social problems associated with Chinese-foreign marriage and divorce as documented in the Peoples Republic of China (PRC)'s print media, which presents stereotypical depictions of bad foreign husbands, victimized Chinese women and good Chinese men.
