廣西16歲孩子結婚引熱議 稱真心相愛已獲雙方家長認可

Photos of two 16-year-olds in a wedding gown and suit at what seems to be a wedding have triggered heated discussion on Chinese social media.

兩個身穿結婚禮服和西裝的孩子似乎在舉辦婚禮的照片引起了中國社交媒體的熱議。

The two teens, who were first reported to be a 13-year-old groom and a 16-year-old bride, have made clarification online that they both reached 16 years old, and their marriage has won the blessing and support of their parents, despite the legal marriageable age in China being 22 for males and 20 for females.

媒體首次報道這兩個青少年時表示，新郎今年13歲，而新娘則是16歲。但是隨後他們在網上澄清，雙方都已經16歲。儘管中國法定結婚年齡是男方22歲，女方20歲，他們的婚姻得到了雙方父母的祝福和支持。

The couple, from a small town in south China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, claimed to have known each other for over a year. Both have dropped out of school. Aside from clarifying their ages in the online statement, the two also refuted netizens' speculation that the marriage is due to the bride's pregnancy.

這對夫婦來自中國南部的廣西壯族自治區，聲稱已相識一年有餘，兩人都已經輟學。除了在網絡聲明中澄清了自己的年齡以外，他們還反駁了網友關於新娘懷孕結婚的推測。

"The marriage between us is just inevitable after knowing each other for over a year. So we just held the ceremony and will get a marriage certificate after we reach our legal age," said the 16-year-old bride.

16歲的新娘表示：“相識一年以後結婚是必然的。所以我們舉辦了婚禮，等到了法定年齡，就領取結婚證。”

The fact that the groom quit in the second year of junior high school sparked debate. According to Chinese law, a teenager has to receive nine years of compulsory education, namely six years of primary school education and three years in junior high school.

新郎在初中二年級輟學這一事件引發了爭議。根據中國法律，青少年必須接受九年義務制教育，即六年小學教育和三年初中教育。

"My parents are farmers, and since I am not good at schooling, why waste the time and tuition fees? " said the groom. Since two years ago, after he quit school, he has been working in Nanning, the capital city of Guangxi.

但是新郎卻說：“我的父母都是農民，我書念得不好，幹嘛還浪費時間和學費？”自兩年前退學以後，他就一直在廣西省省會城市南寧工作。

Some web users questioned the meaning of this wedding, since it is not legal. "Is it possible that their families arranged this wedding, invited friends to the wedding banquet so as to collect gift money? The 'marriage' is not protected by law anyway," Weibo user Ajiaojiao said.

因爲婚禮不合法，一些網民質疑其舉辦的意義。微博用戶Ajiaojiao說：“有沒有可能是他們的父母安排了這場婚禮，邀請朋友參加婚宴，藉機收錢？無論如何，這場婚姻不會被任何法律保護。”