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December 16, 2011

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'Crazy English' founder agrees to divorce wife

Li Yang, founder of the "Crazy English" teaching method, agreed to divorce his American wife Kim Lee yesterday after they failed to reconcile in a Beijing court.

The hearing was in private but the couple were soon quarreling in public when they later faced the media.

Lee, who was filing for divorce, went online in September saying she had been the victim of domestic violence. She uploaded pictures showing her bleeding left ear, swollen forehead and bruised knees.

Before the hearing, Lee's lawyer said she was demanding custody of the couple's three daughters and an equal division of the couple's property.

Lee was also demanding her husband produce property details as Li had been controlling the income of his Crazy English institute and had never told her about the income from it.

Li told reporters he believed he had been "a not bad father" and said he could only visit his three daughters twice a month due to his work.

He said he had been willing to reconcile with his wife but agreed to a divorce, according to news website chinanews.com. Although Lee had asked for the hearing to be held in public with the media in attendance, Li asked for it to be held in private.

After the closed-door hearing, which lasted three hours, the couple said they agreed to pursue a divorce as they could not be reconciled.

No agreement had been reached on related matters.

No Apartments

"I don't know why Li required the hearing not to be open for media," Lee said on her microblog. "He said in court that he didn't have apartments or money and he wanted to take care of the children, but he couldn't even remember the address of our apartment."

She added: "I wanted an open trial. Civilized people use dialogue and law to solve problems, not fists. I hope other women can use the law to find a happier, healthier future for their families."

On his microblog, Li said that he loved his wife but had not been able to go home for the past four months because of her feelings.

"My heart is not filled with hatred or complaints but acceptance, tolerance and missing. I apologize again to my wife and three lovely children," Li wrote.

But when the couple left court yesterday, they were soon quarreling as they faced reporters, according to the People's Daily website.

"I didn't say that I don't have apartments or money. You can't tell that to the media," the website quoted Li as saying.

"But you said that very clearly," Lee responded. Then the couple argued over whether Li could spare some time to be with his family and whether he wanted to display how "happy" life with the family was, the website said.

Li said the quarrel was a typical example of their life as a married couple as they had been fighting over "trivial matters" many times.


 

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