An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:
Film director Zhang Yimou blames tradition for breaking China's one-child rule
BEIJING (AFP) - China's top film director Zhang Yimou has said he violated the country's one-child policy because of the traditional belief that having multiple children would lead to greater prosperity, state media said.
After months of rumours that he had fathered as many as seven children with several different women, Zhang issued an apology on December 1 acknowledging that he has two sons and a daughter with his current wife, and another daughter with his ex-wife.
Zhang, who faces an official penalty largely based on his and his wife's income in the years before each child was born, also claimed that one year he only earned US$450 (S$570).
In an interview with the official Xinhua news agency on Sunday, the director of the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening and closing ceremonies said he broke the law because his father told him before dying that he wanted a grandson to "carry on the family name".
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com.