It’s no secret that Shenzhen has a large number of kept women, but one man managed to keep a secret mistress for over a decade, having five babies with the woman to add to the five he had with his wife, Shenzhen Satellite Television reported yesterday.

The man’s wife, Mrs. Li, who lives in Shenzhen’s Buji Subdistrict, told reporters that she was shocked when she learned of the story, saying she had no idea that her husband wasn’t satisfied with their seemingly perfect family.

The couple had been married since the 1980s. According to Li, they pretty much stopped having sex around 2000.  “As a woman, to be without something so important made life itself meaningless,” she tearfully told reporters.

Her husband gave the excuse that he was ill. Li offered to take him to hospital but he refused.

After learning about the secret family from a tip off, Li was shown footage that showed a woman younger than herself and from her own hometown. Of the four children present, one was singing the folk song “Mother Is The Only Good Thing,” but swapped the word “mother” for “father.” While watching the footage, an exasperated Li cried out: “What’s this woman got that I haven’t got?”

After filing for divorce on June 20 last year, the man promised to give Li her share of the five houses and one piece of farmland that they owned. However, she has still not formally received any property.

In his letter of guarantee, the man explained that all of his kids, regardless of who he had them with, would receive all of his care and attention. He has had four children with his mistress and the fifth is on the way. Journalists were unable to reach him for comment.

Some respondents called for a basketball game between the children of the different mothers to decide who gets the properties. But if the information we currently have is accurate, it’s hardly debatable as to whose fault the divorce is.

This news report, currently a story with only one source, raises all kinds of questions. Surely the man has breached China’s family planning laws? If so, how on earth does he get hukou for all his children? How did Li not figure out earlier that something was going on?

This blog, Divorce in China, comes recommended by China Law Blog. Despite the Chinglish, there is a lot of good stuff, such as the urging of readers to do due diligence before marrying (advice that Li could have heeded all those years ago).

Even more pertinently, this comes from the post Fault in the Divorce:

Pursuant to Chinese Marriage Law, article 46 Article 46 where one of the following circumstances leads to divorce, the unerring party shall have the right to claim mental compensation:
1. bigamy is committed;
2. one party who has a spouse cohabits with another person of the opposite sex;
3. family violence is committed; or
4. a family member is maltreated or abandoned.

If her claims are true, then Li can get a very hefty fee indeed.