Plea for Marriage Rules Reform Sparks Debate on Parental Consent

A suggestion put forward by a netizen on the official website of China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs advocating for simplified marriage registration documents has ignited widespread debate online on the need for mandatory parental permission before marriage. Since 2003, regulations in China dictate that citizens must provide both a government-issued photo ID and a household register, also known as the hukou, when registering a marriage. However, in the comment on the website on June 27, the netizen argued that this requirement is unreasonable, asserting that the photo ID carries the same legal weight as the household register. The Ministry of Civil Affairs has acknowledged the suggestion and expressed their intention to examine it further.

tips

consent：同意；许可（sent- 感觉；共同感觉，同意）

spark：除了火花；闪光的意思，还有发动的意思

civil：公民的

Ministry of Civil Affairs：民政部

debate：讨论（de- 加强，bat- 打，加强打击，反驳，辨论）

mandatory：命令的

dictate：听写；命令；指挥

government-issued：政府发布的

household：家庭的

assert：主张；断言（sert- 插入）