China fines film director $1m for violating one-child policy

China has fined popular film director Zhang Yimou
more than $1m for violating the country’s one-child
policy.
The director, who said he has three children, has 30
days to pay 7.5m yuan ($1.2m, £729,000), state
media say.
Mr Zhang, known for directing the Beijing Olympics
opening ceremony in 2008, in December apologised
for violating the strict policy.
China introduced the policy in the 1970s to curb
population growth.
The policy until recently limited most urban couples
to a single child. Rural families were allowed to have
two children if their first-born was a girl.
But last year, China said it would relax the policy –
families will be allowed two children if one parent is
an only child.
The family planning bureau in Binhu district, Wuxi
city, Jiangsu province, sent Mr Zhang a letter
collecting the “social maintenance fee”, Xinhua
news agency says, citing the district’s official
microblog account.
The fine was calculated based on the income of Mr
Zhang and his wife, Chen Ting, when their two sons
and daughter were born, the Binhu government
said.
The couple made $580,000 in 2000, 2003 and 2005,
the Binhu government added.
The wife of Mr Zhang – who denied reports he
fathered more children with other women – is from
Wuxi city.
Mr Zhang, 61, directed some of China’s most
successful films, including Hero, the House of Flying
Daggers and the Flowers of War.