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Man who broke China’s harsh child restriction laws by having 8 children gets massive fine reduction

  • The family kept having children until they had two boys. One daughter was given away because they could not afford to support her
  • Medieval and misogynistic ideas about the value of sons over daughters persist in much of China

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Director Zhang Yimou was fined a total of 7.48 million yuan (US$1.1 million) in 2014 for having three children in breach of the law. Photo: Handout
A local government in western China has reduced the fines given to a farmer who broke China’s draconian child laws by having eight children.
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The fines were reduced from 2.6 million yuan (US$402,370) to 90,000 yuan (US$13,928) after years of negotiation with the family, Jiemian News reported on Monday.

Government birth control workers in Anyue county in Sichuan province have been considering a punishment for the farmer, who continued having children with his wife until they had two sons.

Sharing China’s widespread obsession with male heirs, the man, aged 50 and identified by his surname Liu, fathered five girls with his ex-wife, before finally having two sons in 2006 and 2010 respectively.

They had another girl between the two sons, but gave her away to another family due to “too much financial pressure”, the report said.

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Pedestrians and a man carrying baskets pass by a huge billboard extolling the virtues of China's 'One Child Family' policy. Photo: Getty
Pedestrians and a man carrying baskets pass by a huge billboard extolling the virtues of China's 'One Child Family' policy. Photo: Getty
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