Why is filmmaker treated partially?

Film director Zhang Yimou has responded, through his studio, to a raging controversy. His studio issued an open letter on Sunday admitting that Zhang had three children, two sons and one daughter. Since he has violated the family planning regulation, his studio said, he was willing to "cooperate with the government agencies" and accept any penalty they imposed on him.

At first, one might take the incident just as gossip material for tabloids, but a deeper look would reveal that the matter concerns social justice. Family planning department officials are often known to deal with couples violating the regulation with an iron hand, more so if they happen to be rural residents.

But in the case of Zhang, no action has been taken even six months after a media outlet reported that the director might have broken the family planning regulation by having more than one child. When the matter was reported to the family planning agency in Wuxi, Zhang's home province of Jiangsu, the officials responded by saying they were "unable" to find the director.