China's family planning authorities will handle the case of film director Zhang Yimou's breaking the family planning policy in accordance with legal procedures, a spokesman of the State Health and Family Planning Commission said on Tuesday. When asked to comment on Zhang's case at a press conference, Yao Hongwen, spokesman for the Commission, said every individual is equal in the face of law and nobody is allowed to have privileges to give birth to more children than allowed by China's family planning policy Yao's comment came after media stories claimed that Zhang had remarried and is father of seven children: one with his ex-wife, three with his current wife, Chen Ting, and another three with two mistresses. "The Commission's attitude towards citizens' violations of family planning policy is consistent and clear. Family planning remains a basic state policy for China that every Chinese citizen should be amenable to comply with. The policy is clearly presented in Constitution of the People's Republic of China, Law of Population and Family Planning of the People's Republic of China and other family planning-related laws and regulations in different provinces and cities. Every Chinese citizen should abide by and safeguard the solemnity of laws and regulations," spokesman Yao Hongwen said. China's family planning policy, introduced in the late 1970s to rein in the country's growing population, limits most urban couples to one child per couple and most rural couples to two kinds. The policy was recently relaxed, allowing couples to have two children if one of the parents is an only child. Those who flout the policy face hefty fines. The amount of the fine is generally several times the yearly annual income of the two spouses combined. Some media calculations put the fine that Zhang Yimou may face at as much as 160 million yuan (about 26 million U.S. dollars). Zhang's family planning policy violations have sparked criticism online about celebrities who have more children than the policy allows. In an open letter on December 1, Zhang admitted that the couple has two sons and a daughter and they are willing to accept investigation and punishment in accordance with China's laws and regulations. He apologized to the public. However, the letter denied that Zhang had mistresses and was father to as many as seven children from various mothers. Zhang, one of the "fifth generation" of Chinese filmmakers, made his directorial debut in 1987 with the film "Red Sorghum" and has won numerous awards worldwide. He was chief director of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

• published: 11 Dec 2013
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