Revised rules forbidding unmarried students from having sex could lessen the punishment, while at the same time emphasizing a regulation that many feel is pointless.

Fudan University students and legal professionals have questioned the legitimacy of the draft code.

Where current rules state that students can be expelled for having sex, the new discipline says students merely get a warning and a black mark on their records.

Many students say the anti-sex policy makes no sense.

"To claim non-marital sex has taken place, evidence is required. And to catch students having sex 'red-handed' is usually impossible," said one student, code-named cxjding, writing on the university's Internet bulletin board. "I think the policy is more about the university's attitude (towards the issue) than practicality," another student wrote.

The new disciplinary codes should go in force in September after necessary revisions.

The university, celebrating its centenary year this year, refused to comment.

"The old ethics are negative towards non-marital sex. But when it comes to punishment, you've got to justify it," said Wu Dong, a lawyer with the Shanghai M&A Law Firm.

"Universities are supposed to educate students and be fair. In some cases a university needs to administer and discipline student affairs but such power should be authorized by the education authorities and should not be at odds with the law," Wu said.

The draft disciplinary codes are an answer to the Ministry of Education's reform of university administration. The ministry issued a set of provisions on administration in higher educational institutions at the end of March, and required all universities and colleges to revise their administrative codes before September.

The new decree scrapped a decade-old ban on student marriage, under growing challenges over the constitutionality of such a ban. But it did not touch on the issue of sex.

It also requires universities to "be factually accurate and just in procedure" in punishing students.

"The new decree removes punishment articles that do not have a legal basis or are vague about the nature of punishable deeds It will help reduce the randomness, uncertainty and unpredictability of punishment," said Lin Huiqing, director of the ministry's Student Affairs Department, in March.

"It is inappropriate to define students' sexual activities as something detrimental to a university's public interest and order and to impose punishment for it," said Wu.

"Such disciplinary policies are not commensurate with the high reputation Fudan enjoys as a leading university in our country."

China's Marriage Law puts the legal age for marriage at 22 for men, and 20 for women.

(China Daily July 18, 2005)