In European and American law, couples have the right to testify to the court (spouse privilege) against the other party’s criminal information. In ancient China there was a rule of “kiss and hide”, which means that husband and wife respect the other’s privacy. Although in modern day China, there is no such thing, privacy between a husband and wife is still required. Article 15 of the marriage law states that both husband and wife have the right to work, study, and participate in social activities without interference or restriction. In China’s constitution, there are basic rules written for every citizen’s right to privacy. Article 40 of the Constitution says that citizens have the freedom of communication and correspondence. These rights and freedoms shall not be infringed upon unless there is a national security threat or a need for a criminal investigation.
In reality, there are some couples that hire private investigators to track and eavesdrop on their spouse. Generally, people will do this feel they have a right to know about certain things and usually in regards to family matters, like children, common information, or shared property. It is generally understood that a right to privacy is a basic right given to every law-abiding person and this shouldn’t be undermined even with the existence a husband-wife relationship. That doesn’t mean that one party should use the “right to privacy” as an excuse not to disclose income information or other information that should be transparent between husband and wife. Article 15 of the marriage law states that each party has the freedom to participate in social activities without the need to disclose to the other party. The Constitution guarantees the rights of privacy in regards to communication as a basic right for each citizen. Because of this, inquiries about the records of calls, texts, or emails must be submitted by a lawyer. Of course, a party can’t use privacy rights to violate fidelity between husband and wife. If one party has an affair, the other party’s right to know is given priority. If a foreigner is the other party in question, evidence of that violation will be collected and given priority in the lawsuit.
