(Selected from the translated work titled The Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, authored by Robert Zhang and Steve Li, criminal defense lawyers registered in Shanghai, China.)
Article 109 [Desertion] A public official of a government authority who, while performing their official duties, desert their post without permission, flee overseas, or defect overseas shall be sentenced to imprisonment of not more than five years, custody, supervised release, or deprivation of political rights, or to imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than ten years if the crime is committed under serious circumstances.
A public official who, possessing State secrets, flees overseas or defects overseas shall be given aggravated penalties in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph.
