Zhang Yimou Charged Over 7.48 Million RMB for Violation of One-Child Policy

After revealing in December that well-known director Zhang Yimou (張藝謀) violated China’s One-Child Policy by fathering three children, the One-Child Policy Department of Wuxi levied a fine of 7.48 million RMB, approximately equal to 1.2 million USD.

Last month, Zhang and his wife, Chen Ting (陳婷), issued a public apology for their violation of the One-Child Policy. Many people began discussing how much the couple would be fined for their wrongdoing. The fine is calculated based on the parents’ income in comparison to the average annual salary of their city of residence.

Although Zhang’s wife, is registered as a resident of Wuxi’s Binhu District, the family actually lives in Beijing and is considered part of China’s floating population. As a result, the One-Child Policy Department needed to determine which city and district should handle this affair. In July 2013, the higher authorities determined that the family would be considered residents of the Binhu District.

Zhang’s three children were born in 2001, 2004, and 2006, which meant his income from each previous year would decide the amount of the fine. According to investigations, Zhang brought in only 2760 RMB in 2000, which he attributes to the “unfixed income” of a film director, but made more than 1 million RMB in 2003 and 2005. Chen did not have any income those three years.

Because of the severity of Zhang’s violation of the One-Child Policy, the department decided to include an additional fee for his second and third child, in that the amount of his income that surpasses the average disposable income would be doubled and added to the fine. According to their calculations, Zhang’s actual fine will amount to 7,487,854 RMB.

Zhang and Chen have thirty days to pay the fine, though they also have the option of filing a court petition or an administrative review if they disagree with the amount. If the couple fails to meet the deadline, they will be charged a late fee and will have to apply for compulsory implementation.

Source: Sina.com

This article is written by Joanna for JayneStars.com.

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Responses

  1. why should he be fined such a huge amount of money? who’s pocket will the money end up in? instead of the fine, maybe they should ask him to take in some orphans into his home?

    1. b/c he’s famous, making lots of money, 2 kids over the limit..anymore question?

    2. Because he violated laws. Government will pocket the money. And he has enough children of his own.

  2. surprised he doesn’t earn that much as a well known director. 1.2million ain’t that much for him.

    1. ZYM knows the penalty is calculated based on income so of course he will hide/defer income to avoid paying as much as possible. For people who do not report these violations, the penalty should be based on “the sum of all income” from birth until reported.

      Also, ZYM may still be hiding some unreported violations/children that he is not acknowledging. The government should offer big rewards to anyone (like those other mothers) for exposing him.

  3. He is a millionaire what is 1.2 millions usd to him mannn peanuts, he is famous and definitely they are spy around him and check on his movement.

  4. to balance wealth within the nation, govt should raise personal taxes eg ppl earning more than 1 million per year should be taxed at a higher tax rate or donate to a charity foundation/cause of their choice and not fine ppl fot violation of 1 child policy, no?

    1. One-Child Policy is for “population control”, which was effective. And, ZYM is cheating by hiding his income (government should trace the money through the films) and children (government should offer attractive rewards to anyone with information leading to conviction). Nail him!!!

      1. Also, government should build a DNA database, which can easily identify family trees.

      2. Sad that the people have to pay for the governments’ mistakes though when they were the ones who encouraged population growth in the first place. In Romania, you had the Ceausescu Regime, which has left so many homeless children on the streets. Now in China, you have a policy that denies the basic human right of reproduction.

        Whatever. Zhang Yimou knew what the rules were and he obviously didn’t play by it.

      3. Also, does ZYM really think people are foolish enough to believe that Chen Ting is the only women that he had kids with (when he was 50-yo in 2001)?

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