116 The China Quarterly The family in the PRC is also obliged by law to care for the elderly and the infirm.The important PRC legal principle of"mutuality of rights and obligations"(quanli yiwu xiang yizhi)runs through modern Chinese family law and means that some of the children's rights outlined above are balanced by reciprocal duties.This is clearly specified in the third paragraph of Article 49 of the Constitution 1982:"parents have the duty to rear and educate their children who are minors and children who have come of age have the duty to support and assist their parents."More generally,the Marriage Law 1980 at Article 3 stipulates that "maltreatment and desertion of one family member by another shall be prohibited."Children are obliged to provide support and assistance for their parents by virtue of Article 15 of the Marriage Law 1980,and the Criminal Law 1979 at Article 183 makes it an offence,punishable by a sentence of not more than five years'criminal detention,for an adult child to refuse to perform her or his proper duty to support an aged member.And,as noted,Article 182 of the same law makes abuse of a family member(including,of course,an elderly parent)punishable by up to two years'fixed term imprisonment.In addition,the Women's Protec- tion Law 1992,at Article 35,makes it an offence "to abuse or forsake elderly women."The Inheritance Law 1985 at Article 7 provides for the disinheritance of an heir who has,inter alia,committed "a serious act of abandoning or maltreating the deceased."Article 13 of the same Law stipulates that heirs who had provided care and support for the deceased may be given larger shares,whereas those who"had the ability and were in a position to maintain the deceased but failed to fulfil their duties shall be given no share or a smaller share of the estate."Moreover,Sections 37 and 61 of the Opinions of the Supreme Court on Some Questions Concerning the Rigorous Enforcement of the Inheritance Law 198539 also give special consideration to indigent family members.In addition, Article 20 of the Marriage Law 1980 imposes on adopted children the same duty to care for their adopting parents as applies in ordinary parent-child ties and,as indicated elsewhere,adopted children are en- couraged,if only as a matter of morality,also to support indigent natural parents.40 Articles 21 and 22 have the effect,in certain circumstances,of imposing duties of care on a step-child vis-a-vis her or his step-parent and on a grandchild vis-a-vis her or his grandparents.Plans are currently under way for the introduction of a full code of law specifically protecting the rights of the elderly,the last of the several codes extending the 39.Supreme People's Court,"Guanyu guanche zhixing 'Zhonghua renmin gongheguo jicheng fa'ruogan wenti de yijian"("Opinions of the Supreme Court on Some Questions Concerning the Rigorous Enforcement of the Inheritance Law")1985,in Liu Suping,Hunyin faxue cankao ziliao (Reference Materials on the Study of the Marriage Law)(Beijing: Zhongguo renmin daxue chubanshe,1989).pp.180-88. 40.In my view this should be seen as an extension of-rather than a detraction from-the idea of the family as a unit of care.The concern is to interpose the natural family between the legal obligations which rest in the adopting family on the one hand and,on the other possible state or collective responsibility to provide support.Article 45 of the Constitution 1982 provides that"citizens of the People's Republic of China have the right to material assistance from the state and society when they are old,ill or disabled."It should be added here that there is no rule in PRC law requiring anonymity in adoptions.See also n.86. Downloaded from http:/www.cambridge.org/core.Shanghai JiaoTong University,on 15 Oct 2016 at 08:21:12,subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use available at http:/www.cambridge.org/core/terms.http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/50305741000032938116 The China Quarterly The family in the PRC is also obliged by law to care for the elderly and the infirm. The important PRC legal principle of "mutuality of rights and obligations" (quanli yiwu xiang yizhi) runs through modern Chinese family law and means that some of the children's rights outlined above are balanced by reciprocal duties. This is clearly specified in the third paragraph of Article 49 of the Constitution 1982: "parents have the duty to rear and educate their children who are minors and children who have come of age have the duty to support and assist their parents." More generally, the Marriage Law 1980 at Article 3 stipulates that "maltreatment and desertion of one family member by another shall be prohibited." Children are obliged to provide support and assistance for their parents by virtue of Article 15 of the Marriage Law 1980, and the Criminal Law 1979 at Article 183 makes it an offence, punishable by a sentence of not more than five years' criminal detention, for an adult child to refuse to perform her or his proper duty to support an aged member. And, as noted, Article 182 of the same law makes abuse of a family member (including, of course, an elderly parent) punishable by up to two years' fixed term imprisonment. In addition, the Women's Protec￾tion Law 1992, at Article 35, makes it an offence "to abuse or forsake elderly women." The Inheritance Law 1985 at Article 7 provides for the disinheritance of an heir who has, inter alia, committed "a serious act of abandoning or maltreating the deceased." Article 13 of the same Law stipulates that heirs who had provided care and support for the deceased may be given larger shares, whereas those who "had the ability and were in a position to maintain the deceased but failed to fulfil their duties shall be given no share or a smaller share of the estate." Moreover, Sections 37 and 61 of the Opinions of the Supreme Court on Some Questions Concerning the Rigorous Enforcement of the Inheritance Law 198539 also give special consideration to indigent family members. In addition, Article 20 of the Marriage Law 1980 imposes on adopted children the same duty to care for their adopting parents as applies in ordinary parent-child ties and, as indicated elsewhere, adopted children are en￾couraged, if only as a matter of morality, also to support indigent natural parents.40 Articles 21 and 22 have the effect, in certain circumstances, of imposing duties of care on a step-child vis-a-vis her or his step-parent and on a grandchild vis-a-vis her or his grandparents. Plans are currently under way for the introduction of a full code of law specifically protecting the rights of the elderly, the last of the several codes extending the 39. Supreme People's Court, "Guanyu guanche zhixing 'Zhonghua renmin gongheguo jicheng fa' ruogan wenti de yijian" ("Opinions of the Supreme Court on Some Questions Concerning the Rigorous Enforcement of the Inheritance Law") 1985, in Liu Suping, Hunyin faxue cankao ziliao (Reference Materials on the Study of the Marriage Law) (Beijing: Zhongguo renmin daxue chubanshe, 1989), pp. 180-88. 40. In my view this should be seen as an extension of - rather than a detraction from - the idea of the family as a unit of care. The concern is to interpose the natural family between the legal obligations which rest in the adopting family on the one hand and, on the other, possible state or collective responsibility to provide support. Article 45 of the Constitution 1982 provides that "citizens of the People's Republic of China have the right to material assistance from the state and society when they are old, ill or disabled." It should be added here that there is no rule in PRC law requiring anonymity in adoptions. See also n. 86. , available at http:/www.cambridge.org/core/terms. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0305741000032938 Downloaded from http:/www.cambridge.org/core. Shanghai JiaoTong University, on 15 Oct 2016 at 08:21:12, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use