CHINA - A Myanmar woman and her Chinese husband want their marriage declared invalid so they can get re-hitched in a curious case before Mentougou district court.
Shoutsee Li, 44, and Beijinger Han Fucheng, 49, will learn today whether their 2006 marriage has been dissolved by judge Han Xiaofei.
"If we can't get married legally this time, I will have to bid farewell to my husband and my son," Li told METRO.
"I hope I can get a job and support my family. I want to be a mother like anyone else and live peacefully."
Han said he had mixed feelings about the court proceedings.
"I will be happy if the court helps us to get married again, but I'm also concerned about the future of our family," he said, adding that the couple was unemployed.
The couple was married in Beijing in 2006 after meeting in Yunnan province in 1997. However, Li was using a fake Chinese identity card and other documents at the time, so police say their marriage certificate is not legal.
In order for Li to legally stay in China and for their 12-year-old son to get a Beijing hukou, the couple must now get remarried.
Judge Han said he was likely to rule that the couple's marriage certificate was invalid.
"To announce their marriage illegal and divorce them is the only solution to their dilemma right now," he said.
"The marriage registration didn't do their paper work well and left their marriage imperfect for years.
"Now, we need to correct it and return their happiness to them."
Li gave birth to their son when the couple were living in Yunnan in 1998. However the relationship disintegrated and she returned to Myanmar that year.
Han and the son moved to Mentougou district, where Han grew up.
Li married a local man in Myanmar in 2004 but the relationship fell apart and she returned to China two years later.
She moved in with Han and her son in their apartment in Mentougou district. Their son is a fifth grade student at a local primary school.
However, Li was deported back to Myanmar in February 2008 when police discovered that she was holding fake identity documents during a regular inspection in January.
In recent months, she has taken several short trips to Beijing to provide necessary documents for her permanent residency application.
China Daily/Asia News Network
