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Outcry as Chinese erotic writer jailed for more than 10 years over gay sex scenes in novel

  • Sentence provokes shock and outrage as critics point out many rapists face lighter sentences than pornographers
  • Novelist fell foul of pre-internet ruling that people who sold more than 5,000 erotic books should serve more than a decade in prison

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A Chinese supreme court ruling says that people who sell more than 5,000 copies of an erotic work or make more than 10,000 yuan from doing so should be jailed for 10 years to life. Photo: AFP

An erotic writer in China has been sentenced to over a decade in prison for writing and selling a gay porn novel, sparking shock and outrage over the severity of her sentence.

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The writer, surnamed Liu but better known by her internet alias Tianyi, was handed a 10-and-a-half year jail term for “producing and selling pornographic materials” last month, according to a television report on Friday.

The book that landed her into trouble was a 2017 novel named Occupy, which sold 7,000 copies through the internet.

The novel, about a forbidden love affair between a teacher and a student, was said to be filled with “graphic depictions of male homosexual sex scenes” tinged with violence, according to a television station in Anhui.

Pornography is illegal in China, but the hefty sentence given to Liu has ignited an uproar on social media.

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