A spokesman for China's parliament has
ruled out expanding the nation's marriage laws to include gay and
lesbian couples.
According to Reuters, Zang Tiewei,
spokesman for parliament's legal affairs commission, made his remarks
at a press conference on Wednesday.
He said that Chinese marriage law only
recognizes the relationships of heterosexual couples.
“This rule suits our country's
national condition and historical and cultural traditions,” he
said. “As far as I know, the vast majority of countries in the
world do not recognize the legalization of same-sex marriage.”
According to the Pew Research Center,
more than two dozen countries allow gay couples to marry, mostly in
Europe and the Americas. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2015 struck down
state laws and constitutional amendments limiting marriage to
opposite-sex couples.
In May, Taiwan's parliament approved a
bill that endorses same-sex marriage. China claims Taiwan as a
territory
Zang's comments show that the ruling
Communist Party has no interest in following Taiwan on the issue.
LGBT activists in China told Reuters
that they were disappointed but not surprised by the comments.