Chinese film director fined over too many children

Film director Zhang Yimou must pay more than US $1.2m in fines for the three children he had in violation of China’s strict family planning rules.

A district government in the eastern city of Wuxi said that investigators concluded that the director of The Flowers Of War and his wife, Chen Ting, flouted family planning policies by having the children without approval and before they were married.

The fines are based in part on the couple’s annual incomes. The Binhu district government said the couple made about $580,000 in the three years – 2000, 2003 and 2005 – when their children were born.

It says Zhang and Chen have 30 days to pay the fine. They may also seek an administrative review or file a court petition.