“Body doubles” doing criminals’ time in China?

Apparently in China you can hire someone to serve your prison time for you.

According to Quora contributor Ti Zhao who was born and partially raised there, this is known as ding zui (translation:“substitute criminal”).

The practice is actually  illegal and not very common, says Ti Zhao.

However, Jeffrey Sant in a Slate article claims that wealthy people buying their way out of trouble, while a much poorer “body double” sacrifices his or her freedom for cash is not at all uncommon and has been documented in the Chinese media.

In August, during the sensational trial of Gu Kailai, the recently convicted murderer and wife of ousted Communist Party official Bo Xilai, a number of Chinese citizens began speculating online that the woman in court was actually a 替身 – tisthen (translation: “body replacement”).  As a result, Chinese blocked the term.

So if you want to learn more about this practice, you’ll probably have to find your sources outside of China.