Illegal detention of child policy violators sparks fee controversy

The illegal detention by local health authorities of people who cannot afford to pay social maintenance fees for allegedly violating family planning rules in Linyi, Shandong Province has sparked controversy after a video clip showing local police freeing the detainees went viral on Wednesday.

Video footage showed several police officers entering a house with two locked gates and rescuing Zhang Yongling and her 10-month-old baby, which is her third child. The rescue had been confirmed by police in Junan county in Linyi, according to news portal The Paper.

Liu Tao, Zhang's husband, told the Global Times Wednesday that the couple has been taking turns serving detention since November 18 because they could not afford the 140,000 yuan ($22,666) social maintenance fee for giving birth to their third child.

China had adopted a strict one-child policy since 1980 to curb the rapid growth of its huge population. The fine for those who violate the policy is called the"social maintenance fee."

The country loosened the policy in 2013 to allow single child parents to have a second baby.

Liu claimed that his wife was kept in a hotel in Xihonggou village, Junan county where local family planning authorities have detained several other violators.

Tang Jingyin, another villager illegally detained along with Zhang, told the Global Times Wednesday that he was also taken away from his home due to his failure to pay the social maintenance fee for his third child.

"They [family planning officers] have asked me to pay the money again after I was released … I fix bicycles for a living and I have already borrowed 15,000 yuan from the bank. There will be no other way for me to survive other than borrowing from loan sharks," Liu said.

It was not the first time that local authorities had illegally detained violators of family planning rules.

In 2011, a former director at a township-level family planning office in Linyi was sentenced to five-years in prison for bribery and illegal detention, reported The Paper. The director had reportedly forced people who could not afford to pay the social maintenance fee to attend "training sessions."

Local health authorities could not be reached for comment as of press time.

Social maintenance fee collection has always been a hot topic in China. More than 20 billion yuan is reportedly collected nationwide each year, but there has been limited information on where the money goes.

"China needs to work on improving the structure and quality of its population, which cannot be achieved through mandatory measures," Zhan Zhongle, a law professor at Peking University, told the Global Times.