Wuxi set to report on Zhang's kid controversy
Source: Agencies |
May 10, 2013, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
AUTHORITIES are investigating whether one of China's top film directors fathered seven children in violation of the country's strict family planning laws.
Family planning authorities in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, where Zhang Yimou's wife resides, said they were working on a report and will release the results at the earliest.
Reports circulated online this week that Zhang Yimou, director of "The Flowers of War" starring Christian Bale, has seven children from two marriages and from relationships with two other women.
If true, Zhang, 63, who is also known as the architect of the Beijing Olympics' opening and closing ceremonies, could face a fine of up to 160 million yuan (US$26 million), the People's Daily reported.
People caught breaking China's family planning policy must pay a "social compensation fee" based on their annual income, the paper said.
Active users of China's social media lined up to criticize Zhang, who has been linked with many top actresses, notably Gong Li. Netizens drew distinctions between how the elite and ordinary people are treated.
"However many children a person has is their basic right, but in a twisted society, basic rights have become a privilege," Beijing resident Liu Weiling, who works for a media company, wrote on Sina Weibo.
Zhang's credits also include "A Simple Noodle Story," an adaptation of the Coen brothers' 1984 movie "Blood Simple," and "Under the Hawthorn Tree," a love story set in China's decade-long "cultural revolution (1966-1976)."
Zhang's Los Angeles-based agent did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
Earlier yesterday, the website of the People's Daily quoted an unnamed official from Wuxi family planning authority as saying they had begun investigating the reports.
It said Zhang's second wife, former actress Chen Ting, 32, is from Wuxi.
Zhang was previously married to Xiao Hua, with whom he has a daughter.
Known to many as China's one-child policy, the rules limit most urban couples to one child and allow two children for rural families if their firstborn is a girl. The Chinese government introduced the policy in the late 1970s to curb a surging population.
Family planning authorities in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, where Zhang Yimou's wife resides, said they were working on a report and will release the results at the earliest.
Reports circulated online this week that Zhang Yimou, director of "The Flowers of War" starring Christian Bale, has seven children from two marriages and from relationships with two other women.
If true, Zhang, 63, who is also known as the architect of the Beijing Olympics' opening and closing ceremonies, could face a fine of up to 160 million yuan (US$26 million), the People's Daily reported.
People caught breaking China's family planning policy must pay a "social compensation fee" based on their annual income, the paper said.
Active users of China's social media lined up to criticize Zhang, who has been linked with many top actresses, notably Gong Li. Netizens drew distinctions between how the elite and ordinary people are treated.
"However many children a person has is their basic right, but in a twisted society, basic rights have become a privilege," Beijing resident Liu Weiling, who works for a media company, wrote on Sina Weibo.
Zhang's credits also include "A Simple Noodle Story," an adaptation of the Coen brothers' 1984 movie "Blood Simple," and "Under the Hawthorn Tree," a love story set in China's decade-long "cultural revolution (1966-1976)."
Zhang's Los Angeles-based agent did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
Earlier yesterday, the website of the People's Daily quoted an unnamed official from Wuxi family planning authority as saying they had begun investigating the reports.
It said Zhang's second wife, former actress Chen Ting, 32, is from Wuxi.
Zhang was previously married to Xiao Hua, with whom he has a daughter.
Known to many as China's one-child policy, the rules limit most urban couples to one child and allow two children for rural families if their firstborn is a girl. The Chinese government introduced the policy in the late 1970s to curb a surging population.
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