Chinese law provides for penalties of up to three years’ imprisonment for knowingly beginning a relationship with the spouse of a serving People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldier.

The man in this case, identified only by his surname Ma, met his former colleague Yuan by chance in 2022 and they had sex the same day.

She subsequently told him that she was married to a PLA soldier, but Ma was unconcerned and began to tell others they were dating, the South China Morning Post reports.

When Yuan later pointed out that it is a crime to destroy a military marriage, the pair broke up — but reunited a month later because Ma missed her.

However, their activities came to light when Yuan asked her husband for a divorce and he checked CCTV cameras in their neighbourhood for evidence of an affair.

Ma was sentenced to 10 months’ imprisonment by a court in Dunhua, in the north-eastern province of Jilin, after admitting to the offence.