Director's wife posts family photo to take focus off rumors

The family photo that Chen Ting, the wife of famous Chinese film director Zhang Yimou, posted on her Sina Weibo on Tuesday. [Photo from the Sina Weibo account of Chen Ting]

The wife of famous film director Zhang Yimou, whose violation of China's family planning policy stirred widespread controversy last year, has uploaded a photo of herself with her husband and three children.

Chen Ting posted the family photo on Weibo on Tuesday, which she said is also her birthday and wedding anniversary.

In the statement accompanying the photo, she hinted she and her family have been troubled by rumors, forcing her to share information about the family.

"We have been making every effort to ensure the happiness of the family, health of our parents and healthy growth of our children," she said. "Sadly, there have always been people trying to disrupt our peaceful life."

"We hope the public can get the right information here and ignore stories fabricated by those with insidious intents," she said.

Zhang, 64, admitted in December that he had two sons and a daughter with Chen, 33, his second wife. Rumors appeared online in May last year that he had several children, violating China's family planning policy. This angered many people, with some saying that the family planning policy should be strict, even for rich celebrities.

Zhang, winner of several top awards and the director of the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, is one of China's most famous filmmakers.

The couple violated the country's family planning law by having three children before marriage and without permission for the births, according to the Population and Family Planning Bureau of Wuxi, Jiangsu province, where they live.

They paid 7.48 million yuan ($1.23 million) in fines to the bureau in February.

Violators of China's family planning policy have to pay fines based on their annual income and the average income for the previous year.

In December, Zhang said that people had been illegally tracking his minor children and taking photos of them, giving out private information about his family, and fabricating rumors such as he had several mistresses and eight children, and some sons born out of wedlock.

The rumors seriously disrupted his family and he considered resorting to the law for justice, he said.

Chen Cheng, a lawyer at Shanghai Colawyer Firm, said although celebrities are supposed to have a greater degree of tolerance in opening their private lives to the public, their children are also protected by law if they are minors and it is illegal to take photos of minors without their guardian's permission.

"If serious consequences occurred to the minors, these people should take legal responsibilities," she said.

"The children are innocent no matter what mistakes their parents may have made," said one netizen in a comment.