Party members, particularly the leaders who occupy governmental posts, must exhibit higher moral standards to justify the power that rests in their hands. As a result, officials involved in adultery must be punished according to the Party’s constitution.

Non-Party members who commit adultery cannot be punished according to the country’s laws, which are inflexible. And personal relations are best handled by the parties involved. But crimes that threaten the social order and violate other people’s rights — such as domestic violence, bigamy, maltreatment and abandonment — are clearly defined by the country’s laws and deserve punishment.

Furthermore, the Party’s constitution views adultery and having a mistress differently. Adultery is a kind of infidelity. Having a mistress, on the other hand, involves the use of money to seek sensual pleasure. Many mistresses of corrupt government officials maintain a luxurious lifestyle thanks to the bribes their lovers get or the funds they embezzle. Therefore, while adultery calls for different types of punishment, a Party member who has a mistress should perforce be expelled from the Party.

But since the line between adultery and having a mistress is often vague, there is need to define such acts of infidelity in more detailed legal terms so that law enforcement officials can impose order more fairly.

The author is a professor of law at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law.