Where in the world is Fan Bingbing?

Martial Media, Culture and Other Arts Martial Media and Popular Culture
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‘Disappearance’ of top Chinese actress Fan Bingbing concerns fans
By Kerry Allen
BBC Monitoring
4 hours ago


GETTY IMAGES
Fan Bingbing recently received global attention for her appearance as Blink in the X-Men film franchise

Chinese social media users are questioning the whereabouts of one of China’s biggest film stars.

Fan Bingbing is one of the world’s highest paid actors, but media reports in the country say that she hasn’t been seen in public since 1 July when she visited a children’s hospital.

Social media users are also noting her unusual silence on the popular Sina Weibo microblog, where she has more than 62 million followers. She has not been active on her account since 23 July, when she “liked” a number of posts.

In May, prominent TV presenter Cui Yongyuan appeared to accuse Fan Bingbing of tax evasion. Her studio has denied any wrongdoing,

It has not commented on her whereabouts.

Social media concern

Ms Fan is known internationally as a singer and model, as well as for her appearance in the X-Men film franchise.

She is one of China’s most influential celebrities and posts regularly on her Weibo account. Her posts consistently receive thousands of user comments.

This makes her current online silence unusual, and hundreds of thousands of social media users have been voicing their concern.

Many are replying to her most recent post on 2 June and asking for her to release a statement and confirm that she is well.


SINA WEIBO
The normally active blogger’s last Weibo post was on 2 June, and has hundreds of thousands of comments from concerned users

“We love you, Fan Bingbing,” many users say. Another adds: “We are waiting for an answer.”

Others question if she has been detained, but at present this is pure speculation. They note the recent, highly circulated allegations surrounding her in relation to a wider government tax evasion probe.

Some celebrities are alleged to have used so-called “yin-yang” contracts: dual contracts in which one sets out an actor’s real earnings, and another details a lower figure, with the latter submitted to the tax authorities.

In June, the actress’s studio addressed these allegations and said that the star had never signed dual contracts, “The studio and Fan Bingbing will fully cooperate with the relevant authority. We hope the investigation result can be released soon to answer the public doubt.”

Report censored

In the past week, concern about Ms Fan among social media users has risen after a financial newspaper carried a controversial article hinting that she was under investigation.

The Economic Observer claimed on 26 July that several of Ms Fan’s staff were being questioned by the police, and that her brother had been told that he was not allowed to leave the country. He has not commented.


FREE WEIBO
Posts mentioning the Economic Observer article and an alleged investigation into Fan’s staff have been censored from social media

The article was swiftly taken offline, and multiple posts that mentioned it, including some by state-affiliated media have been censored according to Free Weibo, a censorship-monitoring website.

Many financial newspapers in China are independent, but given their traditionally niche subject matter, are often overlooked by the government censors.

Media hint at concerns

Mainstream state media have steered clear of reporting on the whereabouts of Ms Fan.

Financial media have noted that the market value of Huayi Brothers, the production company that she is signed up to, has plunged some seven per cent in the past week. However, the company has since released a statement saying that this is unrelated to Ms Fan.

Independent media including Caixin Online have reported on the “rumours” that Ms Fan has been detained, and note that her studio has not responded to phone calls from the media or fans.

Some outlets say this could be because members of her staff are being investigated, but this is unconfirmed and both Ms Fan and her team could simply be taking a break from the limelight.

I’ve been following this story for a few weeks. It continues to grow. Perhaps this will need its own thread soon.

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The Fox take

I’m splitting this off from China’s most powerful celebrities into an indie Where in the world is Fan Bingbing? thread.

CELEBRITY NEWS 5 hours ago
‘X-Men’ actress Fan Bingbing drops off social media, sparking concern among fans
By Katherine Lam | Fox News


Chinese actress Fan Bingbing has disappeared from social media amid rumors she is the target of a tax evasion investigation and that she, her brother and boyfriend have been barred from leaving China. (AP)

Fan Bingbing, “X-Men” actress and one of China’s biggest movie stars, sparked concern among fans after she disappeared from social media for about a month amid rumors the celebrity is being investigated for tax evasion.

Fans began speculating the star was possibly in trouble after she went radio silent on China’s main microblogging service Weibo, where she has more than 62 million followers. The Chinese actress is usually active on the service and posts regularly.


Chinese actress Fan Bingbing has disappeared from social media amid rumors she is the target of a tax evasion investigation. (AP)

Fan last posted on the social media service on July 2, the day after she was last seen in public visiting a children’s hospital, the South China Morning Post reported. Many people have commented on the July 2 post asking Fan to release a statement confirming she’s okay.

“We love you, Fan Bingbing,” many Weibo users wrote, according to the BBC. “We are waiting for an answer.”

Others said the last time Fan was active on Weibo was on July 23, when she “liked” several posts.

[QUOTE]
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bingbing_fan#hughjackman #xmen

Though it remains a mystery why Fan has been avoiding the spotlight, several reports online claim the actress and her brother have been barred from leaving China as authorities look into reports Fan was given dual contracts for her work: a public one listing her official salary and a private one stating her actual, much higher, pay. The contracts, dubbed “yin-yang” contracts, are used to evade taxes.

Chinese newspaper The Economic Observer reported Saturday that Fan and her brother Fan Chengcheng are involved in a tax evasion investigation that began in June. A person associated with a company linked to Fan is being accused of hiding and destroying evidence, a source told the newspaper. Several other people associated with Fan are being investigated.


bingbing_fan
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bingbing_fanPress conference for another new film “League Of Gods” in Beijing today.
Wardrobe: @ralphandrusso @mohiebdahabieh
Styled by: @minruir
#LeagueofGods # #ralphandrusso #ralphandrussocouture

Her boyfriend, actor Li Chen, is also reportedly barred from leaving China. He has not updated his account since July 6.

The report was posted on the newspaper’s website for about an hour before it was taken down — but had already been widely shared on the internet, the South China Morning Post reported.

Chinese media reports said neither Fan, her production company nor agent can be reached, boosting speculation that all have been caught up in the probe. Police rarely comment on such investigations until a conclusion has been reached.


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114,611 likes
bingbing_fan#355Movie #CannesYouHandleUs
#355

Fan’s production company released a statement on June 3 saying Fan never signed a “yin-yang” contract.

Fan has appeared in dozens of movies and TV series in China, but is best known internationally for her role as Blink in 2014’s “X-Men: Days of Future Past.” She is one of China’s wealthiest entertainers, pulling down tens of millions of dollars for her roles, along with substantial amounts in appearance fees and product endorsements.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.[/QUOTE]

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355

Is Fan Bingbing, China’s No. 1 Actress, Really “Missing”?

by Stephanie Eckardt
August 3, 2018 3:55 pm
Ellen von Unwerth for W

Is it really possible for Fan Bingbing, an actress-singer-model with dozens of millions of followers, whom Forbes has named the most influential Chinese celebrity for four years running, to get any privacy? Probably not, which is why a notable number of those followers have begun to worry that, for once, they haven’t been hearing much at all about Fan. (She was last seen in public over a month ago, while visiting a children’s hospital in Shanghai on July 1.)
Fans who are familiar with Fan’s frequent presence on Weibo, though, seem much more concerned about her absence online rather than IRL. Fan doesn’t post too much on social media, and especially not on Instagram, where she last posted in late May. She is, however, often on Weibo, which is why the fact that she hasn’t “liked” any posts on the platform in over a week, since July 23, has been causing more and more of her 62 million followers to write her (unanswered) comments asking her to let them know that she’s okay.

It’s certainly not out of the ordinary for a celebrity to take a break over the summer—especially an overworked star who could use some time off the map (and away from notifications). In this case, though, some are seeing it as an alarming sign, notin that Fan has not been in the news cycle since the Chinese TV presenter Cui Yongyuan publicly accused her of tax evasion this past May, which made enough waves to cause shares in some of China’s biggest film studios to plummet. (Fan has established more and more of an international presence since playing Blink in 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past; she’s currently set to star in the spy thriller 355 alongside Jessica Chastain, Penélope Cruz, and Lupita Nyong’o.)

[QUOTE]
bingbing_fan
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131,059 likes
bingbing_fan Top secret no more. Mission accepted! #355Movie #355 with @JessicaChastain @marioncotillard @penelopecruzoficial @lupitanyongo @simondavidkinberg #FreckleFilms @Filmnationent #CannesYouHandleUs

In June, Fan’s personal film studio, which has yet to comment on her whereabouts, defended the actress, stating that she had never taken part in any of the so-called “yin-yang” contracts—meaning using both an official contract (with lower figures) submitted for taxes and a secret one (with actual earnings)—that Cui had accused her of using. They also stated that both she and the studio would “fully cooperate with the relevant authority.”

Things were relevantly quiet on that front until July 26, when the Chinese financial newspaper The Economic Observer published an article claiming that the police were questioning several of her staff members, and that her brother, who has not commented on the matter, had been told he, like Fan, cannot leave the country. According to the BBC, it wasn’t long before both the stories and others mentioning it were taken offline, and news hasn’t followed from other mainstream Chinese state outlets since. Meanwhile, according to the Hollywood Reporter, outlets in Taiwan and Hong Kong have been reporting on rumors of Fan’s arrest, as well as of those of her manager and personal assistant, and the possibility of her scenes being cut from Unbreakable Spirit, her upcoming Chinese film with Bruce Willis.

FAN BINGBING, QUEEN OF THE RED CARPET
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The actress stood out at the 63rd Annual Cannes Festival, where she wore a dramatic Laurence Hsu gown covered in illustrations of dragons.
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The actress stood out at the 63rd Annual Cannes Festival, where she wore a dramatic Laurence Hsu gown covered in illustrations of dragons.

Getty Images
FULL SCREEN
With all that going on, the Internet’s imagination has naturally been running wild, with rumors that Fan has even been detained. It does, however, only seem natural that amid all the drama, Fan would want (or at the very least be told) to lie low, and simply hasn’t felt up to pressing “like” on Weibo as of late.[/QUOTE]

First I’ve heard of 355. That sounds cool. Hope Bingbing is okay.

4

An update pulling in Jackie no less.

Jackie Chan refutes claims that he advised Fan Bingbing to seek refuge in US over tax evasion woes


PHOTO: AFP
REI KUROHI AND JAN LEE
THE STRAITS TIMES Sep 03, 2018

Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan has refuted allegations that he had advised Chinese actress Fan Bingbing to seek refuge in the United States in the wake of an ongoing tax evasion scandal.

According to Hong Kong news outlet Apple Daily, Fan - one of Chinese entertainment’s most recognisable faces - appeared at a Los Angeles immigration office on Friday morning (Aug 31) to enter the United States.

The source is reportedly a Twitter user, who believes that Fan had taken Chan’s advice to seek refuge in the United States to ride out what is the biggest scandal in her two decades in showbiz.

But in response, Chan’s company told Chinese news site ETtoday that the actor’s involvement was “nonsense”.

According to the Saturday ETtoday report, sources claimed that Fan had already been “taken in”, suggesting that the actress may have been arrested.

The 36-year-old actress went dark in June after veteran Chinese host Cui Yongyuan accused her of tax evasion in late May. He implied that Fan has signed what is known as “yin and yang” contracts, where she reportedly had two contracts on Cell Phone 2, a Feng Xiaogang film.

One, meant to be given to the authorities, presented her pay as 10 million yuan (S$2 million) while another, used internally between Fan and the production company presented her pay as 50 million yuan (S$10 million). In total, she was set to receive 60 million yuan but would only be taxed for 10 million yuan.

Fan, the highest paid actress in China according to Forbes, denied the claims and Cui later walked back on the allegations - but the damage had already been done.

China’s State Administration of Taxation published a statement on June 3, several days after Cui’s allegations, which said that it has ordered its local bureau in Jiangsu province to investigate the tax evasion issue of those working in the film industry. Though no names were cited, Fan’s film studio is based in Jiangsu.

Zhejiang Talent, one of the production companies of The Legend of Ba Qing - an epic Chinese drama that stars Fan alongside Chinese actor Gavin Gao - released a company report on Wednesday, which said that the television series has yet to receive a date of release due to allegations its stars have been involved in.

Aside from Fan’s tax evasion woes, Gao was charged in June with two counts of aggravated sexual assault in Australia. Fan is also a shareholder of Zhejiang Talent.

The company said if it does not eventually receive a release date and the show is dropped from release, it will fall into some 740 million yuan of bad debts.

To add fuel to the fire, Fan, a mainstay on international red carpets like the Cannes Film Festival and an avid social media user, seemingly dropped off the map. Her account on Weibo, a Chinese microblogging site, has not been updated since June 2. She previously posted almost daily.

Rumours about Fan’s predicament began to fly in the months since. There were reports alleging that Fan had been banned from acting for three years and barred from leaving the country.

Her fiance, Chinese actor Li Chen, has also maintained a low profile and kept mum about her current predicament.

Now I really want to see Cell Phone 2.

5

not socially responsible

I wonder what would happen to Hollywood if we applied such a measure…

Fan Bingbing: Vanished Chinese star ‘not socially responsible’
By Kerry Allen
BBC Monitoring
11 September 2018


WIREIMAGE
Fan Bingbing, who got a 0% score in the report, has not been seen in public since 1 July

Chinese film star Fan Bingbing has been ranked last in a report judging A-list celebrities on how “socially responsible” they are, fuelling further speculation about the whereabouts of the actress, who has not been seen in public for more than two months.

The 2017-2018 China Film and Television Star Social Responsibility Report, carried widely by state media outlets, ranks Chinese celebrities according to three criteria: professional work, charitable actions and personal integrity.

It praises celebrities who have become “relatively strong role models”, but also highlights cases where it says they have had a “negative” social impact.

But what is most notable is its 0% rating for Fan Bingbing, one of China’s biggest stars, who hasn’t been seen in public since 1 July when she visited a children’s hospital.

The report was authored by academics at Beijing Normal University.

Who is Fan Bingbing?

She is known internationally as a singer and model, as well as for her appearance in the X-Men film franchise.

Her name has been linked to a government probe involving celebrities using “yin-yang contracts” - a practice where one contract sets out an actor’s real earnings, and another details a lower figure, with the latter submitted to the tax authorities.

Although Fan Bingbing’s studio denies any wrongdoing, online users are speculating that the reason she scored 0% is a result of the widely-circulated allegations, which state media have said have had a negative impact on society.

There is no word on what has happened to Fan. However there is speculation she has been arrested.

Most recently, state-run Chinese publication Securities Daily published a report which said she had been placed "under control, and would “accept the legal decision”.

But the story was pulled down a few hours later.

How does the report rank stars?

The authors said they studied the behaviour of 100 Chinese singers, actors, and public figures - based in China and abroad - to assess the extent of their social responsibility.

They did not specify exactly how they arrived at the results in the test, but said that their findings were based on “research and web-scraping”.


VISUAL CHINA GROUP
The three members of boyband TFBoys passed the ‘socially responsible’ test

Only nine celebrities were deemed to be socially responsible enough, however, with a pass requiring a score of more than 60%.The report stressed that celebrities had to do more to promote “positive energy” and hinted that they needed to be more aware of behaviour and actions that might have a “negative social impact”.

“We wanted to have a more thorough evaluation of celebrities,” Zhang Hongzhong, who led the project, told English-language news website Sixth Tone.

He said that many celebrities were in danger of being simply branded “little fresh meats” - an internet buzzword used to describe good looking young men - and that their activism and philanthropy work was often overlooked.

So who passed?

Top of the list is actor Xu Zheng (78%), who appeared in the highly acclaimed film Dying to Survive. The film was based on a true story about a Chinese man smuggling cheap Indian drugs into the mainland to help cancer sufferers.


AFP
The Chinese government wants actors like Wu Zheng in ‘Dying to Survive’ to inspire young people

Two and three in the list are members of the hugely popular boy band TFBoys, in recognition of their philanthropic work. Another member comes fifth.

Actor Yang Yang (61.%), who ranks ninth, is highlighted because he set up a charity to help educate underprivileged children in remote mountainous regions.

How did people react?

State media are highlighting the report as a significant document, and outlets are praising the higher-ranked celebrities.

Social media users meanwhile - who have been long been fascinated by celebrity rankings - are weighing in on what the document might mean for their favourite celebrities, particularly Fan Bingbing.

Many users of the Sina Weibo microblog have voiced their surprise and concern that she has ranked so low, given there is no evidence of her being involved in any misconduct.


VISUAL CHINA GROUP
Actor Jackie Chan recently donated 50,000 copies of his autobiography to the China Disabled Persons’ Federation

“Fan Bingbing has been working on a public welfare project,” one user said. Another added that for her to get zero was “not right; she does a lot of public welfare.”

“When the Tianjin fire broke out, Fan Bingbing donated one million yuan ($145,655; £112,565) to the Tianjin Fire Brigade. Has all the good she’s done before just been erased?” one asked.

The bad ratings given to other celebrities has caused annoyance as well. One user, for instance, pointed out that actor Jackie Chan and Tibetan singer Han Hong, who rank 42nd and 59th, are well-known philanthropists.

Why does this report matter?

Chinese celebrities have long understood that taking a path of “virtue” is key to maintaining mainland audiences, and that it’s extremely difficult to bounce back after being linked to scandal.

The country’s media has also long stressed that celebrities need to spread “positive energy” among young audiences; in other words, to be upbeat and promote healthy moral values.

So they have lauded celebrities who have, for example, openly condemned tobacco or drug use.

But celebrities who voice opinions in line with government rhetoric gain even higher praise, for example if they promote the importance of young audiences referring to the self-ruling island of Taiwan as a “Chinese region” rather than a “country”.

This latest emphasis on social responsibility, which media and fans alike are taking as a new mark of power, could now put more pressure on them to do just that.

6

busted

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19972132

51535.83

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ETtoday628

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2100AYW510453800125

7816.7422018842201816426


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googtrans

Duan / Fan Bingbing “I have been in for 1 month” Beijing high-rise exposure captivity schedule
Reporter Tian Hao / Taipei Report

Fan Bingbing debuted in 1997 and has been rolling in the entertainment industry for 21 years. Now he is “closed” because of the three major felony. According to Beijing’s informed senior officials, she was brought back to the investigation by the relevant units at the beginning and returned after 2 days. However, he was arrested afterwards and has not come out until now. This time, the mainland governments big move is to sanction Fan Bingbing. It is also said that in order to let the outside world witness the determination to sweep greed and fight corruption, Fan Bingbing will be used to open the knife.

Independence/Fan Bingbing is in prison. “I really can’t come back!” Beijing informed seniors confirmed the miserable: she was completely destroyed

The mainland has actively carried out anti-corruption operations in the past five years, and has handled a total of 1.53 million people, of which 58,000 were transferred to the law office. Fan Bingbing is also one of them. After being arrested for three months, Fan Bingbing himself did not dare to speak in the studio or in the circle. Even the official official statement was not available. The case was foggy until the mainland official media “Securities Daily” reported. Also suspected of bank illegal lending and corruption cases, it is obvious that the official high-level officials have nodded the news, the whole case is not far from the stage of clearing.
*
News/Fan Bingbing Studio is empty! Official micro lockout for 20 days… Property company speaks

Fan Bingbing. (Figure / flip from Weibo)

The informed seniors revealed to ETtoday Starlight Cloud that Fan Bingbing was released and was arrested, but the truth is that she has always been “inside.” She was brought back to the case by the police at the end of June. It was once put back in 2 days, but was arrested again in early August. This time it was really shut down. Until now, people have not yet come out. The top executive also said that she is going to end. Very miserable, the acting career is equal to being sentenced to death, “I really can’t come back.”

Cui Yongyuan’s work contract in May broke the news of Fan Bingbing’s work contract, which triggered the attention of the mainland local tax bureau, and immediately launched an investigation. Although Cui Yongyuan clarified that the yin and yang contract was not Fan Bingbing, it was too late, not only the agent Mu Xiaoguang was arrested, and even Fan Bingbing had to accept legal sanctions after a series of investigations.

Fan Bingbing was arrested and imprisoned. (Figure / flip from Fan Bingbing Weibo)

Fan Bingbing was rumored to be sent to the case twice, but afterwards, the internal staff were all booing. It is reported that the mainland official has mastered the roster, involving 100 A café artists to evade taxes, which was also reported on the Internet a few days ago. The next object to be investigated is the female surname Y and the male idol. Since Fan Bingbing was involved in the tax evasion incident, many media have revealed that Fans income has reached RMB 1 billion (about RMB 4.538 billion) in the past five years. There are 12 companies in the company and there are 5 companies in the company. At that time, Cui Yongyuan even said that the contract “has a drawer”, and that a party is a big fan of entertainment.

Fan Bingbing was ravaged by the relevant authorities in mainland China, which triggered the entire entertainment industry. The mainland tax bureau issued a new regulation on the 7th. From August 1st, the taxation rate for artists will increase, from 6.7%. To 42%, and from August 2018, 42% will be required to recover the tax owed from January to June 2018. Therefore, Fan Bingbing must pay the current income tax owed for the past 6 months at a rate of 42%.

Fan Bingbing is suspected of three serious crimes. (Figure / flip from Weibo)

Now we know. She’s in the joint.

7

1 of 3 for today’s three-fer

These English-language news stories seem to be just catching up to this thread I’ve been posting to for over a month. And I’m late to the boat on this story because I didn’t think much of it at first. But now, it’s blossomed into something intriguing.

The stories below seem to have missed the story above, which means two possibilities: 1. WaPo, THR, & Bloomberg don’t follow Chinese news that carefully or 2. I was duped by Chinese fake news (I was duped for a fleeting moment this weekend with the Danny Trejo death hoax but some quick web double-checking alleviated that).

A government institute gave China’s biggest celebrity a low 'social responsibility’ rating. She hasn’t been seen for months.


Chinese actress, singer and producer Fan Bingbing attends the Viscap fashion show during Beijing’s Fashion Week in 2013. (Mark RalstonAFP/Getty Images) (MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)

By Gerry Shih
September 11 at 2:11 PM

Fan Bingbing is one of China’s biggest celebrities, a ubiquitous actress, model and singer who earned more in 2016 than Hollywood A-listers such as Amy Adams and Charlize Theron, according to Forbes.

But in July, the “X-Men” actress suddenly vanished. And in the weeks since, the mystery surrounding her disappearance from public view has only deepened amid speculation that she ran afoul of Chinese authorities.

The latest clue emerged Tuesday after a state-affiliated think tank and Beijing university ranked Fan dead last in their annual “Social Responsibility Report” — she earned a 0 out of 100 — citing her “negative social impact,” among other things.

The report, which was widely covered by state media, didn’t shed any more light on Fan’s predicament, but it does add to the sense that China’s Communist Party is sending a message to the country’s burgeoning entertainment industry.

In June, days before Fan disappeared from all public events and stopped posting on social media, the party’s propaganda department, which plays a key role in media regulation and censorship, issued a notice chastising the film industry for “distorting social values,” “fostering money worship tendencies” and encouraging Chinese youths to “blindly chase celebrities.”

Other reports have since emerged that Fan is on the hook technically for tax evasion. She was accused this year on social media of signing two copies of a film contract — a practice colloquially dubbed a “yin-yang” agreement, wherein the undervalued version is submitted to tax authorities.

Even as the Communist Party steps up its push to create a Chinese cultural juggernaut that competes with the United States in “soft power,” it has become increasingly uncomfortable with the mass culture it has spawned.

In recent years, media regulators have cracked down on the reality TV industry for manufacturing child stars and warned producers against making shows that serve as “venues for displaying fame and wealth.” Propaganda authorities started inserting short vignettes reminding audiences of China’s “core socialist values” before screening feature films by the likes of Jackie Chan.

Last year, 100 top Chinese filmmakers and pop stars were summoned to study the Communist Party’s 19th Party Congress and President Xi Jinping’s political theory — a situation that online wags compared to locking Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift in a room and making them read and praise President Trump’s book “The Art of the Deal.”

If there’s anyone who personifies China’s celebrity culture, Fan is it. Since exploding onto the scene as a teenager in the late 1990s, Fan, now 36, has starred in a string of Chinese hits, culminating with a role in 2014’s “X-Men: Days of Future Past.” Her name is commonly associated with Chinese youths’ newfound obsession with plastic surgery, and her aquiline nose and distinctive jaw line are said to be popular requests. Fan’s face is everywhere on Chinese streets, hawking Cartier jewelry, Mercedes sedans, Moët & Chandon champagne and Louis Vuitton couture.

As her disappearance has dragged on in recent weeks, more rumors have surfaced that Fan is facing an acting ban — or even house arrest. Overseas censorship trackers have noted that social media posts and news reports about Fan’s whereabouts have quickly been scrubbed.

Given the Chinese government’s propensity for secrecy, there probably won’t be any solid news until the matter is sorted out behind closed doors, and Fan pays up for her rumored tax transgressions and makes a contrite statement to the public.

Until then, the message from the country’s leaders is silent but clear: The entertainment industry may thrive but only on the party’s terms.[/QUOTE]

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2 of 3

Is Chinese Star Fan Bingbing Missing?
8:10 PM PDT 9/11/2018 by Patrick Brzeski


Getty Images
Fan Bingbing

The sudden disappearance from public view and social media of China’s highest-paid actress has fueled speculation ranging from rumors of her arrest to reports that she has fled to Los Angeles seeking asylum.
Just a few months ago, Fan Bingbing was China’s highest-paid actress, the go-to face for Chinese luxury and set to co-star in Universal’s upcoming female-ensemble thriller 355 opposite Jessica Chastain, Penelope Cruz and Lupita Nyong’o.

Now she’s essentially missing in action, her whereabouts unknown and her name maligned in China’s state-backed media. Fan, best known outside China for starring as Blink in the X-Men franchise, hasn’t been seen in public since July 1. She also has been silent on social media since July 23. Her mysterious disappearance has sparked a wave of speculation among Chinese fans and onlookers, with rumors ranging from claims that she is under the custody of Chinese authorities to reports that she has escaped to Los Angeles to seek asylum in the United States.

The Hollywood Reporter reached out to Fan’s reps, but have not, as yet, received a reply.

Established facts are scarce, but what’s clear is that Fan’s previously high-power brand is under considerable pressure in China. The trouble for the actress began earlier this summer when her name became the focus of a very public tax evasion scandal that engulfed the Chinese entertainment industry.

The huge pay and myriad lifestyle perks of Hollywood movie stars may be a cliche of the U.S. entertainment industry; but in China, the government has tried to limit the earnings of top actors for years. Authorities argue that the huge salaries of elite celebrities are distorting the local film industry and that lavish celebrity lifestyles are sending the wrong signal to China’s youth, encouraging “money worship” instead of “core socialist values.” China’s film regulators have introduced various mechanisms to try to tamp down star remuneration, from outright caps to heavy taxes for high-end earners.

In July, a disgruntled TV host leaked documents demonstrating an alleged tax-dodge scheme by an unnamed major star instantly identified online as Fan. The materials were said to reveal the apparently common, but thoroughly illegal, practice of “yin-yang contracting,” whereby production companies provide actors with two sets of pay contracts: one small one to submit to the tax authorities, and a second revealing the star’s much larger true pay. The leaked docs were said to show that Fan tried to claim $1.56 million (RMB10 million) for four days work on an upcoming Chinese film when her secret pay actually totaled an additional $7.8 million (RMB 50 million).

Fan’s representatives strenuously denied the allegations, saying that they amounted to slander and that she had hired a prominent law firm in Beijing to explore pressing charges. But various authorities in the Chinese government also announced that they would be launching a series of investigations, including one in China’s Jiangsu Province, where Fan’s company is based.

In the weeks since, the crackdown on celeb pay in China has only escalated, with many of the country’s most prominent TV and film companies voluntarily signing a joint pledge to abide by the government’s wishes.

Meanwhile, Fan’s public profile continues to take hits. Hong Kong tabloid The Apple Daily known for occasionally making spurious claims alleged in an Aug. 31 report that the actress had been spotted at a Los Angeles immigration office. The paper went further by citing an unnamed “industry source” who said that Fan was heeding the advice of none less than Jackie Chan, who had urged her to seek asylum in the U.S. (Chan’s company promptly pushed back against the claim as “nonsense”).

Last week, the drama took another turn when a state-run Chinese publication, Securities Daily, reported that Fan actually had been placed under control by authorities in China, and would accept the legal decision. The story instantly went viral on Chinese social media, only to be retracted without explanation hours later, fueling still more speculation.

The latest shot came last Sunday when a group of academics from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences published a report ranking the social responsibility of China’s 100 biggest stars with Fan scoring dead last. The study purported to assess Chinese celebrities according to their “professional work, charitable actions and personal integrity,” determining whether they are a “strong role model” or have a “negative” social impact on China. Actor Xu Zheng, star of last summer’s biggest hit, the socially minded dramedy Dying to Survive, ranked first with a social responsibility score of 78 percent. Fan, meanwhile, received the lowest possible score zero percent.

By all appearances, the report is a piece of political pandering rather than anything like a legitimate work of social science. Yet it has only added to Fan’s woes: shortly after its publication, the study was picked up and discussed by China’s official state media outlets, including the People’s Daily and Xinhua.

I’m starting to wonder if this recent coverage (after this has been going on for months) is a media counterpoint to the success of Crazy Rich Asians.

9

3 of 3 - there are more but these are major media outlets

Movie Star’s Disappearance Puts Perils of China Showbiz in Spotlight
Bloomberg News
September 11, 2018, 2:00 PM PDT Updated on September 12, 2018, 3:00 AM PDT
Crackdown on big pay also seen eroding star-power in industry
Box-office is booming, but flops still weigh on profit margins


Fan Bingbing Photographer: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

Up until a few months ago, the future looked bright for Fan Bingbing. As one of China’s biggest movie stars, she had featured in a couple of Hollywood superhero blockbusters and scores of local films, with many other projects in the pipeline.

Then in June, she became embroiled in a scandal about movie stars under-reporting their earnings, resulting in Chinese tax authorities investigating the industry – including Fan – for possible evasion. The 36-year-old actress, who has 63 million followers on the Twitter-like Weibo, has since vanished from public view-- no more social media updates, no more paparazzi photos and no more public appearances. Fan has denied wrongdoing and a representative for her studio could not be reached for comment.

For film executives, Fan’s disappearance is a reminder of the perils of show business in the most-regulated major entertainment market in the world, where the Communist Party weighs in on everything from the appropriateness of costumes to the salaries of movie stars. The episode is also prompting Chinese studios to wean off a reliance on A-list stars to drive big hits, a shift Hollywood made years ago.

“The crackdown will force studios to focus on making quality content rather than simply relying on the star-driven formula,” said Leiger Yang, founding partner at Beijing-based Landmark Capital, which invests in entertainment start-ups and studios.

A shift away from star-driven fare would come just as China’s cinema boom is regaining momentum, fueled by local hits steadily displacing Hollywood blockbusters. But underneath that healthy gloss, top Chinese studios including Huayi Brothers Media Corp. and Zhejiang Huace Film & TV Co. said in annual reports that higher celebrity pay is threatening profit margins.

Is China’s Movie Bubble About to Pop? Read Adam Minter’s View

Slipping Margins

Fan vanished from public view one day before the State Administration of Taxation on June 3 announced a probe into the star’s tax filings after a former China Central Television host posted what appeared to be partially redacted contracts that allegedly disguised compensation Fan received from a studio for a film. Weeks later, the host said the contracts weren’t related to the star.

Fan’s silence and the crackdown are also intended to make a political point, said Stanley Rosen, a University of Southern California political science professor who studies China and its film industry.

“Social media and public opinion, as you know, are important drivers of policies in this area, particularly when it comes to perceived inequalities, the super-rich, and cheating,” said Rosen. Still, he predicts the government won’t deepen its crackdown in a way that harms the industry longer term.

Authorities still want the industry to grow fast enough to surpass North American box office, he said.

Unsure Bets

While authorities may not directly undermine bankable stars, industry trends show stellar casts are no longer sure bets.

Just before “Dying to Survive,” a low-budget Chinese comedy-drama without big stars became the summer smash hit, “Asura,” the big-budget, star-studded epic on mythology bombed at the box office and was withdrawn immediately after its opening weekend. Trade magazine Variety called it "the most expensive flop in Chinese history.”

Television streaming is also drawing fans to dramas without big stars.

“Story of Yanxi Palace,” a 70-episode drama co-produced by and streamed on iQiyi, China’s Netflix, emerged as a surprising summer hit with a mostly young, lesser-known cast. A Qing dynasty tale of scheming concubines, the drama has been streamed more than 15 billion times, according to iQiyi.

The success of the drama “brings a new turning point and new opportunities to the industry that has been pressured by excessive compensation for celebrities," iQiyi CEO Gong Yu said in Beijing Aug. 26 at an event to celebrate the drama’s conclusion. “The industry should stop overcompensating celebrities in low-quality productions just because they have huge fan bases.”

Quality Focus

Gong’s streaming platform was among a group of film and TV companies that issued a joint statement on Aug. 10 saying they would work together to resist overpaying top talent and devote more resources to better productions.

Over time, this will lead to a reduction in shoddy productions and give the industry an opportunity to focus on quality, said Yin Hong, a professor of TV and film studies at Tsinghua University.

Only about half of the 800 or so films made by Chinese studios last year made it to a cinema and among those 400, fewer than a quarter sold at least 100 million yuan ($14.5 million) in tickets. That’s in a market where the threshold for a hit is considered about 1 billion yuan in sales.

“The industry is undergoing a lot of pain right now,” said Yin. “But if dealt properly, it will be a good opportunity.”

— With assistance by Jing Yang De Morel

Remember when the majority of U.S. moviegoers only knew Fan Bingbing as a flower vase?

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Reuters

SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 / 4:40 AM / UPDATED 4 MINUTES AGO[URL=“https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-showbiz-fan-bingbing/a-lady-vanishes-in-china-a-movie-star-disappears-amid-culture-crackdown-idUSKCN1LU1J4?utm_source=applenews”]
A lady vanishes: In China, a movie star disappears amid culture crackdown
Pei Li, Adam Jourdan
6 MIN READ

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Fan Bingbing, an A-list Chinese movie star who has appeared in the “X-Men” and “Iron Man” film franchises, has more than 62 million followers online in China and fronted campaigns for Montblanc watches and De Beers diamonds, has disappeared.


FILE PHOTO: Director Wang Xiaoshuai (R) and cast member Fan Bingbing attend a news conference for the film “Rizhao Chongqing” at the 63rd Cannes Film Festival, France May 13, 2010. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
The star’s vanishing act - she dropped off the radar in June when reports started to swirl that she was involved in a probe into tax evasion in the film industry - has sparked wild speculation in China about her fate, including reports the actress had been detained.

Reuters was unable to contact Fan. Calls to her agent went unanswered. When asked about Fan, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry replied: “Do you think this is a question of diplomacy?” The Beijing Public Security Bureau declined to comment.

The real-life drama has been playing out at a time when Beijing is tightening the reins on popular culture, looking to stamp out behavior seen as going against the ruling Communist Party’s ideological line and co-opting movie stars, pop bands and online celebrities to endorse socialist values.

“It is written in our new movie promotion law that entertainers need to pursue both professional excellence and moral integrity,” said Si Ruo, a researcher at the School of Journalism and Communication at China’s prestigious Tsinghua University.

“In the unbridled growth of the industry in the past few years, we might have overlooked the need for positive energy, so the government’s intervention is reasonable.”

Fan Bingbing is the most prominent example. The actress, 36, is China’s equivalent of Hollywood star Jennifer Lawrence. She topped Forbes’ China celebrity rich list last year with earnings of 300 million yuan ($43.78 million).


FILE PHOTO: 71st Cannes Film Festival - Screening of the film “Ash Is Purest White” (Jiang hu er nv) in competition - Red Carpet Arrivals - Cannes, France, May 11, 2018. Fan Bingbing poses. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe/File Photo

A Chinese TV anchor in May was widely reported to have posted tax-dodging pay agreements online known as “yin-yang” contracts - one setting out the real agreed payment terms and a second with a lower figure for the tax authorities - that appeared to implicate Fan.

Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post reported that Fan’s studio denied she had ever signed separate contracts for a single job. China’s tax bureau said in June it was launching a tax evasion investigation into the film and television industry.

CULTURE CLEAN-UP

But the culture clean-up is more widespread, snaring video games, online bloggers and rap artists. Critics say it threatens to stifle creativity in some sectors, and is hitting the bottom lines of firms such as tech and gaming giant Tencent.

State-run media have begun using phrases such as “tainted artists”, with official bodies pledging to ban stars who behave badly, including drug taking, gambling or visiting prostitutes.

An open letter earlier this month from members of the Beijing Trade Association for Performances said the body would “purify” the city’s entertainment and performance sector and guide artists towards “core socialist values”.

“Celebrities are seen as a weapon in the Party’s ideological battle, which is fought across all sectors all the time,” said Jonathan Sullivan, Director of China Programmes at the University of Nottingham.

China has long sought to control the creative arts, from censoring movies to literature. However, a boom in online media has prompted a new push to cleanse the arts world, as President Xi Jinping looks to tighten his grip over a huge and diverse cultural scene popular with China’s youth.


Fan Bingbing poses on a pier at the photocall for the film “355” at the 71st Cannes Film Festival, May 10, 2018. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

That drive has created a dragnet that has swept over the creative arts, leaving few unaffected.

Fangu, a grunge band from Beijing, which has toured across China, said it had hit an issue with its name, which translates literally as “anti-bone”, though means something closer to “rebellious spirit”.

The band was forced to change its name this week ahead of a concert in Shanghai.

“The relevant bodies do not allow the word ‘anti’ so we have to change the name temporarily,” Qi Tian, an assistant to the band, told Reuters.

Video game makers have had to tweak their offerings to add patriotic Chinese elements. Others have simply seen approvals withheld. Big media platforms have been rapped for not censoring their content enough and some have had to take sites offline.

A report this month from a state university and circulated in official media, ranked Chinese stars in order of their social responsibility, including their moral conduct - underscoring an increasingly puritanical focus on good behavior.

Fan came in last place with zero points.

The ongoing shake-up is also hitting China’s burgeoning movie and entertainment industry hard. Share prices of related companies tanked after the government probe was announced and many are conducting self-checks on their tax situations.

Claire Dong, partner and attorney at Beijing-based Tiantai law firm, said there has been a surge of consulting requests since Fan got into hot water.

New policies are swiftly eroding the favorable tax treatment that actors and artists once enjoyed.

“This is what the government needed to do,” Dong said. “The government needed to guide the actors to be more focused on acting, not money making.” ($1 = 6.8528 Chinese yuan renminbi)

Editing by John Ruwitch and Alex Richardson

Is this what happens when the government controls media outlets? Looks like it.

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This story is really making the rounds in major U.S. media now

There’s so much tension between U.S. & P.R.C. with the looming trade war that something like this is good media fodder.

Fan Bingbing: Has China’s most famous actress been disappeared by the Communist party?
By Steven Jiang, Ben Westcott and Nanlin Fang, CNN

Updated 9:06 AM ET, Mon September 17, 2018

(CNN)Imagine if one day Jennifer Lawrence was walking the red carpet in Los Angeles and the next she vanished completely with no word about where she was.

It might sound ludicrous, or terrifying, but it’s the reality in China, where one of the country’s most famous actresses has disappeared without a trace amid an uproar over tax evasion by celebrities.
Fan Bingbing, one of China’s highest-paid and most bankable stars, has appeared in both Chinese and Western films, including the multimillion-dollar X-Men franchise.
Across the country, her face once adorned thousands of advertisements, her star power used to sell a galaxy of luxury brands, from Cartier to Louis Vuitton. She was a regular sight at major award shows and fashion ceremonies. In 2015, Time Magazine named her China’s “most famous actress.”
But the film star hasn’t been seen in public since early June, when, according to a post on her verified social-media account, she went to visit a children’s hospital in Tibet.
In an article by state media Securities Daily on September 6, which was later deleted, the publication said Fan had been brought “under control and about to receive legal judgment.”
No official statement has been made as to Fan’s whereabouts, or any potential criminal charges against the actress.
However, in a country where top celebrities are forced to keep an inoffensive public profile to stay in the Chinese government’s good graces, people have drawn their own conclusions about the actress’ location.
“If you are a billionaire, then that is something that obviously you can enjoy to a certain extent, but you’ve got to be very, very wary that you don’t at any stage cross a red line of some sort and fall afoul of the Chinese Communist Party,” Fergus Ryan, a cyber analyst with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, told CNN.
In 2011, the country’s best-known artist, Ai Weiwei, was detained for almost three months during which time his whereabouts were unclear. He was later released after he signed a confession authorities described as being related to tax evasion.


Fan Bingbing and Hugh Jackman arrive at the Australian premiere of 'X-Men: Days of Future Past" on May 16, 2014 in Melbourne, Australia.
Yin yang contracts

Fan’s purported problems began when alleged copies of a film contract she had signed were leaked onto China’s social media in late May.
According to state tabloid Global Times, she had two different contracts, one for tax purposes saying she was paid $1.5 million (10 million yuan) and a separate, private contract for $7.5 million (50 million yuan).
It’s a practice known in China as “yin-yang contracts,” a form of tax evasion where the first, smaller contract is reported to authorities while the second, larger one is treated as tax-free income.
The man behind the leak, Chinese TV host Cui Yongyuan, apologized in June to Fan for his actions, but the same month the State Administration of Taxation of China urged investigators to look into allegations of yin-yang contracts in the country’s film industry.


US actor Will Smith (L) and Chinese actress Fan Bingbing pose as they arrive on May 23, 2017 at the Cannes Film Festival in France.

Fan’s team issued a furious denial at the time but the actress hasn’t been seen in public since the dispute.
In September, China’s Beijing Normal University released a report, lauded as the first “in the world” and heavily promoted in Chinese state media, which ranked the country’s stars by their level of “social responsibility.” Fan was ranked last, with a score of 0 out of 100.
A producer with a major Chinese studio told CNN the practice of having two contracts, one of them smaller to avoid paying too much tax, was “universal” in the film industry.
He said everyone was worried following Fan’s disappearance, especially because “almost every contract has some irregularities” and won’t stand up to a serious audit.
Like other industry insiders CNN spoke to, he declined to be named due to the political sensitivity of the topic.
Scaring celebrities into line
Jonathan Landreth, former Beijing-based Asia editor for the Hollywood Reporter and longtime observer of China’s entertainment industry, told CNN the Chinese Communist Party was treading a tricky line, keen to use high-profile celebrities to sell the “Chinese Dream,” but not wanting to promote the stark income divide.
“Maybe this is just scaring folk to … start paying taxes. If someone were to get busted, then I think it would send a ripple effect to how film production goes forward in the coming years,” Landreth said.
An executive in a foreign film studio’s China office told CNN the lack of A-list celebrities in China increased the bargaining power and earnings of a lucky few – high-profile performers like Fan.
But while cracking down on them might solve other problems, she said it wouldn’t help address the fundamental lack of talent across the Chinese film and television industries.
Combined with strict ideological control, such measures act only to create a “sad situation” in China’s creative industry, she said.
The controls, though, can only go so far. The Chinese government needs the high-profile celebrities to help drive commerce, both domestically and internationally, to promote China, said Landreth.
The crackdown may in fact be intended to solve a different problem facing authorities. “It has long been an open secret that a movie budget is a great place to hide money,” said Landreth.
The Communist Party’s leadership may hope that by shining a light on celebrity tax avoidance, it could deflect attention and avoid closer public scrutiny of the rumored corruption among top government officials and their families, Landreth told CNN.
Spreading ‘positive energy’
The Chinese Communist Party has long had an uncomfortable relationship with celebrities.
In recent years, state media has called on celebrities to spread “positive energy” on the internet. The threat of career-ending trouble with authorities has led the country’s stars to pay attention to the party’s wishes.

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TIME’s take

So maybe my post above was fake Chinese news? It seems unlikely that some of these major news outlets would miss that. But who knows with news nowadays, right?

China’s Leading Actress Fan Bingbing Has Vanished. Here’s What to Know
By ELI MEIXLER / HONG KONG 12:39 AM EDT

In past years, actress Fan Bingbing was a regular presence on film festival red carpets and fashion catwalks from Barcelona to Busan. And then, suddenly, she wasn’t.

Film fans are expressing alarm at Fan’s disquieting recent disappearance from public life: she was last seen on July 1, while visiting a children’s hospital. Her account on China’s popular Sina Weibo social media network, where she has 63 million followers, has been silent since July 23.

Speculation is linking the disappearance of Fan, one of cinema’s top-earners, to an alleged tax evasion scandal at a time when China’s state-controlled film industry is cutting back on bloated budgets and star-driven blockbusters.

If so, it would be a swift reversal for the celluloid superstar, whose rapid ascent as an actress and fashion icon seemed eclipsed only by her potential. A Chinese state news report assured readers last week that matters surrounding the actress—who featured in 2017’s TIME 100—were “under control.” But like its subject, the report quickly disappeared.

Here’s what we know:

A rising star

Not long ago, Fan, 36, seemed poised to become one of the biggest crossover stars in the world: a China-born, English-speaking workaholic armed with a formidable combination of acting, singing, and modeling skills.

Fan became a Chinese household name in 1999 with the TV series My Fair Princess, but broke into stardom in 2003’s Cell Phone, the year’s highest-grossing Chinese film, for which she won Best Actress honors at the Hundred Flowers Awards, China’s equivalent of the Golden Globes.

Fan won again in 2008, and began to pick up leading roles and international festival awards from Taiwan, Tokyo, and San Sebastián. In 2016, she earned $17 million, according to Forbes, making her the world’s fifth-highest paid actress. The following year, she sat on the Cannes Film Festival Official Competition Jury, where she promised to assess films “from an Asian perspective.”

She also logged side roles American films like X-Men: Days of Future Past and Ironman 3 after, as she told TIME last year, “[Hollywood] wanted to add Asian faces and found me.” It was effective: her brief role as “Blink” helped propel X-Men to a $39.35 million opening weekend in China.

Earlier this year, she was cast in 355, an espionage thriller, among a multinational ensemble that included Jessica Chastain, Penélope Cruz, Lupita Nyong’o, and Marion Cotillard. Her place in the pantheon of leading actors seemed secure. “In 10 years’ time…I’m sure I will be the heroine of X-Men,” she predicted to TIME last February.

A hint of scandal

But her once certain ascension was jeopardized in May, when CCTV presenter Cui Yongyuan leaked a pair of contracts that allegedly showed Fan double-billing an unidentified production, first for 10 million renminbi ($1.6 million), and then for 50 million renminbi ($7.8 million) for the same work.

The documents appeared to reveal an arrangement, known as “yin-yang” contracts, wherein one contract reflects an actor’s actual earnings while a second, lower figure is submitted to tax authorities, the BBC reported. According to the South China Morning Post, Cui then called for the Chinese authorities to “step up regulations on show business.”

In June, the Jiangsu Province State Administration of Taxation opened a tax evasion investigation focusing on the entertainment industry. Fan’s film studio, which denied the allegations, is based in Jiangsu, according to the Post.

The lack of an official statement on her whereabouts has spurred tabloid speculation that Fan was banned from acting or placed under house arrest. Last week, according to the Guardian, a report in China’s state-run Securities Journal claimed that Fan would “accept legal judgement,” though the article did not specify her offense, and was removed shortly after publication.

The whiff of impropriety has already impacted her cachet: Australian vitamin brand Swisse suspended use of Fan’s image in advertisements, while her name was removed from promotional materials for the upcoming Unbreakable Spirit, starring Bruce Willis.

Adding insult to financial and professional injury, the BBC reports that Fan has been rated last in a ranking of Chinese celebrities’ personal integrity and charitable work, scoring zero out of 100 in the 2017-2018 China Film and Television Star Social Responsibility Report published Tuesday by a Chinese university. That’s despite the fact that Fan co-founded a charity to provide surgery for children with congenital heart disease in rural Tibet, which she called her “greatest achievement” in a 2003 interview with the Financial Times. In 2015, she also donated a million renminbi ($146,000) to relatives of firemen killed in the Tianjin chemical warehouse disaster; the following year a different index listed Fan among the 10 most philanthropic Chinese celebrities.

A cautionary tale

Other, more salacious theories have claimed to account for Fan’s fall from grace.

Last year, she filed a defamation lawsuit against exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui, who alleged sexual affairs between celebrities, including Fan, and top Chinese Communist Party officials. And when the yin-yang contracts came to light, Fan was shooting a sequel to Cell Phone that Cui, her CCTV accuser, complained bore an uncomfortable resemblance to his own life, the Post reports.

Actor Jackie Chan has meanwhile dispelled rumors that he recommended Fan seek asylum in the U.S.

She may also be the victim of industry belt-tightening, following a series of costly flops. Last year, the $150 million, Matt Damon-led The Great Wall, China’s most expensive film ever, recouped just $18.4 million in its North American opening. In July, the blockbuster Asura was promptly pulled from Chinese box offices after generating just $7.4 million. In June, the government instituted new salary ceilings on film and TV actors, blaming “sky-high” salaries and yin-yang contracts for creating a “distorted” culture of “money worship,” according to the BBC.

Fan’s plight also underscores fundamental divisions between Hollywood and the Chinese film industry, where state censors still exert considerable control over content and celebrate stars who advocate fealty to the Communist Party.

But Fan’s supporters have remain loyal, yearning for news or sight of the absent actress. “I have a hunch that you will be back, right?,” one posted on Weibo. “We’ll wait for you”

13

Now it’s Feng Xiaogang

Now this is getting real. We’ve discussed Feng several times here because he’s a significant director, but he hasn’t done that much in the way of martial arts films, except for The Banquet.

Fan Bingbing Scandal Widens as Famed Director Is Cut From High-Profile Film
1:51 AM PDT 9/18/2018 by Patrick Brzeski


Getty
Feng Xiaogang

The removal of a cameo featuring legendary filmmaker Feng Xiaogang from Cannes favorite ‘Ash Is the Purest White’ has lit up Chinese social media and spurred speculation that he could be the next brought low by the controversy.
The swirling tax-evasion scandal that has engulfed the Chinese film industry, forcing the disappearance of A-list star Fan Bingbing, may have just dented the reputation of another major figure: veteran director Feng Xiaogang.

China’s entertainment trade press was awash Monday with the news that a high-profile cameo by Feng in arthouse star Jia Zhangke’s latest film, Ash Is the Purest White, was cut.

Ash Is the Purest White, a decade-spanning crime melodrama, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May, where Fan Bingbing, in one of her last major public appearances, walked the red carpet in support of the film. Feng, one of China’s most esteemed directors and an occasional character actor, also made a brief but eye-catching appearance in the film as a doctor.

But during the China premiere of the film in Beijing on Sunday, Feng’s scene was conspicuously missing from a newly cut version, and Fan was nowhere to be seen at the event in her customary haute couture. Chinese social media instantly lit up with speculation that Jia’s hand had been forced by China’s Film Bureau — the assumption being that Feng’s removal was necessary for the film to gain approval for its wide release on Friday. Altogether, Jia is said to have trimmed approximately six minutes from the original version that screened in Cannes.

Although the cuts of Feng have caught attention, it’s not particularly uncommon for auteurs to rework festival films prior to their commercial opening, given that they often have to edit in a rush to meet the early submission deadlines for events like Cannes. Still, Feng’s removal is conspicuous given his extreme fame and fan appeal in China. At Cannes, for example, he appeared on the poster for Ash Is the Purest White as though he had a major role rather than just a cameo. The two filmmakers are also known to be allies: Feng’s latest hit as a director, Youth (2017), opened an indie film festival founded by Jia in rural China last year (Fan also served as the event’s official star ambassador).

When asked directly at a press conference on Sunday about the excision of Feng from Ash Is the Purest White, Jia was cryptic, if not evasive. “When I was writing this script, I kept coming back to one line: ‘It’s hard to explain in a few words, and it arouses complex feelings.’ This is the feeling I was going for in the film, and this is how I am feeling right now.” He then moved on without further elaboration.

Ash Is the Purest White traces the tortured romance of young rural woman (played by Jia’s wife and muse, Zhao Tao) and a low-level gangster (Liao Fan) during 18 years of dizzying change and development in China. Like much of the work that has made Jia an international arthouse star, the film has been noted for its nuance and contemplative tone.

Fan and Feng have been linked at the heart of China’s tax evasion scandal since it exploded into public view in late May, when former state television anchor Cui Yongyuan posted documents to social media that appeared to be two acting contracts for the upcoming film Cell Phone 2, the sequel to a hit Feng film starring Fan from 2003. The materials were said to lay bare the common, but thoroughly illegal, practice of “yin-yang contracting,” whereby production companies provide actors with two sets of pay contracts: one small one to submit to the tax authorities, and a second revealing the star’s much larger real paycheck. Although the names were redacted, the leaked docs purportedly showed that Fan was claiming $1.56 million (RMB10 million) for four days of work on Cell Phone 2, when her true pay actually totaled an additional $7.8 million (RMB 50 million).

The revelations and the social media frenzy that followed prompted China’s State Administration of Taxation to announce a broad inquiry into the entertainment industry, followed by an ominous warning: “If violations of tax laws and regulations are found, they will be handled in strict accordance with the law.”

The stock of leading Chinese film studio Huayi Brothers Media, which produced Cell Phone and was backing its planned sequel, promptly plummeted (its shares have yet to fully recover). Perhaps non-coincidentally, given the apparent preemptive removal of Feng, Huayi Brothers also is the lead distributor of Ash is the Purest White.

Representatives for Fan strongly denied any wrongdoing, but she soon stopped posting on social media platform Weibo, where she has over 60 million followers, and she hasn’t been seen in public since. Her disappearance has sparked wild rumors, ranging from claims that she’s been imprisoned or is under house arrest somewhere in China, and even one media report claiming that she was spotted in Los Angeles seeking asylum in the United States.

Many of Fan’s fans, however, believe she was simply an unlucky victim felled in the crossfire between Cui and his true target, Feng. For over a decade, Cui has accused Feng and Huayi Brothers of slander, claiming that the plot of Cell Phone was loosely based on his life but took liberties that damaged his reputation. The film follows the travails of a prominent television anchor who carries on an extramarital affair with his assistant, played by Fan. It won numerous awards in China and became a commercial sensation. The sequel, naturally, is now in doubt.

14

More on Feng

SEPTEMBER 17, 2018 9:17PM PT
Feng Xiaogang Cut From ‘Ash Is Purest White’ as Fan Bingbing Scandal Spreads
By PATRICK FRATER
Asia Bureau Chief


CREDIT: ALBERTOTERENGHI/CANNES/IPA/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK

Chinese auteur Jia Zhangke’s drama “Ash is Purest White” will get its theatrical release this Friday in China – but with cuts that may reflect the sensitivity of the current political-cultural climate in the Middle Kingdom.

The film, which follows the turbulent lives of a gangster couple over a 17-year period, was screened at the Toronto Film Festival last week in a version that was six minutes shorter than the version that played in competition at the Cannes Film Festival in May. The new version was labeled as a director’s cut.

“This is a normal process which improves the flow of the narrative,” a spokesman for MK2 Films, the movie’s French co-investor and international sales agent, told Variety. “It is always a rush to prepare a film for Cannes. And [Jia] did the same thing with ‘Mountains May Depart’” from 2015.

But Chinese media reported that the edits specifically remove the cameo appearances of Feng Xiaogang, the high-profile film director who is embroiled in the scandal and rumor mill surrounding celebrity actress Fan Bingbing. Fan has been accused of hiding part of her income from an appearance in Feng’s upcoming film “Cell Phone 2.” Fan and Feng have both denied accusations of tax dodging.

In 2017, Fan attended the launch party in Cannes for Jia’s new Pingyao film festival. This year she walked the Cannes red carpet for the world premiere of “Ash.” Her disappearance from public view since late July has fueled suggestions that she is being detained by authorities against her will.

At a public screening of “Ash” in Beijing on Sunday, Jia dodged questions about cutting out Feng. “It is complicated,” he said onstage, according to reports by Chinese website Mtime.

Jia is China’s highest-profile art-house director. He has made a career of chronicling the changes in Chinese society wrought by the country’s breakneck modernization. That has made him a darling of overseas festivals – Toronto’s Platform section was named after Jia’s 2000 film of the same title – and a recurring pain for Chinese authorities.

While Jia’s first four features were considered underground works, more recently he has received partial financial backing and local release through state-owned companies including the Shanghai Film Group. His films are considered auteur works and reach much smaller audiences than those of Feng, but Jia has successfully steered a course between social critique and outright antagonism of authorities who would prefer to present a rosier picture.

Even so, his recent films have depicted the effects of the massive Three Gorges infrastructure project, collusion between crooked businessmen and civil servants, and the alienating impact of working in the Chinese mega-factories that make iPhones.

“Ash” is by far his biggest film in terms of budget, with much of it spent on painstaking recreations of sets and costumes that were current less than two decades ago but which are now obsolete.

It just occurred to me that some of you might not really know Fan Bingbing beyond her Hollywood flower vase roles like X-Men: Days of Future Past and Iron Man 3. Perhaps I’ll make a list of films of hers that we’ve discussed previously later. It’s a little tricky because there’s another major star, Li Bingbing, so if you search Bingbing on our forum, it coughs up some 70+ threads. Like I always say ‘know your bingbings’.

15

I actually heard coverage of this on my morning commute radio talk show

There’s a vid behind the link.

Fan Bingbing’s disappearance shows no one is safe from Beijing
By Michael Caster

Updated 2:19 AM ET, Tue September 25, 2018
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MAY 16: Fan Bingbing and Hugh Jackman arrive at the Australian premiere of 'X-Men: Days of Future Past" on May 16, 2014 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

Michael Caster is a human rights advocate, researcher, civil society consultant and the editor of “The Peoples Republic of the Disappeared: Stories from inside China’s system for enforced disappearances.” The views expressed in this commentary are his.

(CNN)We know that China often disappears and abuses human rights defenders but when it can disappear even one of its most famous celebrities, the threat of enforced disappearance looms over anyone China claims within its jurisdiction.

Fan Bingbing, one of China’s most famous actresses, known internationally for films such as “X-Men: Days of Future Past”, has not been seen in public since June.
Though the details of her disappearance remain unknown, it seems most likely that Fan Bingbing is now the highest profile victim of China’s newest system for enforced disappearances, known as liuzhi, under the powerful National Supervision Commission (NSC) established by the Chinese Communist Party in early 2018.
In November 2017, in response to a CNN request for comment on the country’s justice system, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded China was a country “with a rule of law.”
“Chinese judicial authorities fully guarantee all legal rights of criminal suspects when handling their cases. We hope foreign media outlets based in China respect China’s judicial sovereignty, respect facts, and cover the news objectively and fairly,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said at the time.
No one is safe
Fan Bingbing had been at the heart of an unfolding tax scandal since May when former state media CCTV presenter Cui Yongyuan accused her of large-scale tax evasion.
Following the corruption allegations, the State Administration of Taxation opened an investigation and, as is becoming increasingly common in China, not long after she stopped appearing in public.
No official word has been given about her disappearance yet, nor have any charges been announced by Chinese authorities.
Her disappearance, should be seen within the broader context of the ever-expanding use of enforced disappearances under Xi Jinping, and the newly-formed National Supervision Commission.
In another emblematic case, journalist Chen Jieren was disappeared for actually alleging corruption.
In July, he published two articles on his personal blog claiming corruption by Hunan party officials. A few days later, Chen, his wife and two brothers were taken away – when his lawyer tried to visit him he was informed that Chen was being held by the National Supervision Commission and had no right to legal counsel.
Following a month in secret detention, in mid-August state media published his forced confession, while he remained incommunicado. Chinese state media attacked Chen as an “internet pest.”
Although it may be unlikely for such high-profile cases as Fan Bingbing, once disappeared the risk of abuse and torture for those in custody is high.
Chen Yong was a former driver for a local Fujian party official, Lin Qiang, who himself was under investigation for corruption by the NSC. Chen first disappeared from his home in early April.
After nearly a month without contact, his family was summoned with the news that Chen was dead, according to RSDL Monitor. The authorities claimed that the healthy 45-year-old had simply collapsed during interrogation.
His wife’s request to view the interrogation video was refused. Chen’s was the first apparent death inside liuzhi.
Enforced disappearances expanded
In my book “The People’s Republic of the Disappeared” I argued that through the 2013 Criminal Procedure Law China has tried to create a legal basis for secret detentions.
Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location (RSDL) allows the police to detain someone in secret for upwards of six months, mainly for so-called national security crimes.
But, while it has been used widely against human rights defenders, the law itself has a limited target group.
In early 2018, China created the National Supervision Commission, ostensibly focused on investigating corruption with liuzhi, its own custodial control mechanism, which provides the state with similar powers to disappear suspects but on an expanded scale.
The disappeared: Accounts from inside Chinas secret prisons
The disappeared: Accounts from inside China’s secret prisons
The NSC is a broader version of the anti-corruption body, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), which was responsible for the highly-secretive Shuanggui system and was known for serious human rights abuses as outlined in a 2016 report by Human Rights Watch.
The CCDI handled some 734,000 investigations in 2016, and now under the NSC, with its expanded scope, disappearances and other abuses are likely to increase.
Under the new laws, these sweeping anti-corruption bodies have jurisdiction not only over China’s roughly 90 million Communist Party members, but also over a potentially unlimited target group including nearly any government staff, managers at state-owned enterprises, and really anyone if they are deemed relevant to a case of Party concern.
The crimes might include, as with Fan Bingbing, large scale tax evasion or tragically, as with Chen Yong, if you are only wanted in relation to another investigation.
According to Liu Jianchao, head of the Zhejiang supervision commission, those swept up into Liuzhi are typically kept for 42.5 days before being transferred. Although someone can be kept for up to six months, a lot can happen in forty plus days of disappearance.
The creation of the NSC and Liuzhi is another clear example of China’s flagrant disregard for international human rights protections, and part of Xi Jinping’s attempt to systematize gross human rights abuses, from enforced disappearance to torture, behind the veneer of the rule of law.
This should concern everyone.
That China feels so emboldened to disappear even one of its most famous actresses, likely within the Liuzhi system, should be a real wake up call that anyone within China could be next, and as I have argued elsewhere this doesn’t stop with Chinese citizens.

16

Owes $130M

Wow. That’s a lot of money.

There’s an embedded vid on CNN’s site.

Fan Bingbing: China says missing actress fined for tax evasion
Steven Jiang CNN Digital Expansion 2017. James Griffiths
By Steven Jiang and James Griffiths, CNN

Updated 10:56 AM ET, Wed October 3, 2018
Missing Chinese actress resurfaces owing $130M

Beijing (CNN)Chinese actress Fan Bingbing has been fined for tax evasion, state media reported Wednesday, the first public pronouncement about the star since she mysteriously disappeared from public view in June.

According to state-run news agency Xinhua, Fan has been ordered to pay almost $130 million, after she misreported how much money she had received for certain film projects, using so-called “yin-yang contracts” to conceal from the authorities her true remuneration and avoid millions of dollars in taxes.
Fan and companies related to her were ordered to pay around $42 million in late taxes and fees, along with a fine of $86 million. Because she was a first-time offender, the government said criminal charges would not be filed against her if she pays all the money by an undisclosed deadline, Xinhua reported.
Fan’s disappearance from public view sparked widespread speculation she had been detained by the authorities. Xinhua said she had been under investigation by tax authorities in Jiangsu province, near Shanghai but didn’t provide any details on her current whereabouts.
In a letter posted on social media, Fan, 37, apologized profusely and repeatedly to the public and government.
“As a public figure, I should have abided by laws and regulations, and been a role model in the industry and society,” she said. “I shouldn’t have lost self-restraint or become lax in managing (my companies), which led to the violation of laws, in the name of economic interests.”
Fan admitted to signing the contracts and said she “completely accepts” the decision by tax authorities.
“Without the favorable polices of the Communist Party and state, without the love of the people, there would have been no Fan Bingbing,” she added.
Her case was clearly designed as a warning to other high profile celebrities, with the State Administration of Taxation saying it had launched a campaign to recover all back taxes in the entertainment industry.
Those who do not meet a December 31 deadline could face criminal charges, the authority said.

Disappeared

Fan has not been seen since June, a month after Cui Yongyuan, a former presenter for state-broadcaster CCTV, accused her of large-scale tax evasion.
The disappearance of one of China’s most famous and most bankable stars shocked many in the entertainment industry, which had previously largely avoided Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ongoing anti-corruption crackdown.
Under the National Supervision Commission, created in 2018, sweeping investigatory powers which had previously applied only to members of the ruling Communist Party were expanded to cover broad swaths of Chinese society.
“That China feels so emboldened to disappear even one of its most famous actresses … should be a real wake up call that anyone within China could be next,” human rights advocate Michael Caster wrote for CNN last month.
“Yin-yang contracts” are considered a form of tax evasion where the first, smaller contract is reported to authorities while the second, larger one is treated as tax-free income.
According to Xinhua, the investigation of Fan was sparked by her reporting of income from “Air Strike,” an upcoming Chinese film starring Liu Ye and Bruce Willis about the Japanese bombings of Chongqing during World War II.
Separately from Fan, officials said her agent, Mou Enguang, obstructed the investigation, and ordered employees of companies owned by Fan and himself to conceal or destroy accounting evidence. Mou is now being detained by police as the investigation of his case continues.
Officials at several local tax bureaus in Jiangsu have also been held responsible for Fan’s tax evasion.

17

Fallout

Make an example of one of your top stars and the others will follow.

OCTOBER 4, 2018 3:18AM PT
Chinese Stars Rush to Pay Taxes in Biz Crackdown
By VIVIENNE CHOW


CREDIT: ALVARO BARRIENTOS/AP/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK

Hong Kong pop queen Faye Wong, mainland Chinese actress Zhao Wei and Taiwan’s Shu Qi are believed to be among the celebrities from around greater China who are now rushing to ensure their finances are on the right side of the law in the Middle Kingdom.

Their haste has been triggered by the recently announced punishment of superstar Fan Bingbing for tax evasion, and by the Chinese government’s campaign to make public examples of misbehaving celebrities.

Tax officials Wednesday revealed that Fan, star of Hollywood’s “X-Men: Days of Future Past” and recent Chinese hit “I Am Not Madame Bovary,” could be liable for up to $129 million (RMB 883 million) in back taxes, late payment penalties and fines.

The hefty penalty imposed on China’s most famous actress – who was reportedly detained and questioned by authorities for months – signals the beginning of an aggressive crackdown on the country’s booming entertainment business, as celebrities have been warned to sort out their unpaid taxes by the end of this year. State news agency Xinhua reported that entertainment companies and workers who pay their taxes by Dec. 31, 2018, will not be penalized. Those who do not face legal consequences.

Chinese media reported that authorities are especially targeting 200 celebrities who are paid more than $1.5 million (RMB 10 million) for each acting job. The names are believed to derive from a list compiled by talk show host Cui Yongyuan, who earlier this year exposed the “yin-yang contracts” – two different contracts for the same job, only one to be submitted to tax officials – that Fan allegedly signed for appearing in Feng Xiaogang’s “Cell Phone 2.”

That revelation triggered the official investigation into Fan and the wider industry. Cui said in July that he had compiled a list of 585 actors and crew members who worked on Huayi Brothers projects and that he had handed the file to tax authorities. “We believe that they are all involved in tax evasion,” he wrote on microblogging site Weibo.

The names of celebrities suspected to be on the list have been widely circulated in the Chinese media, including some Taiwanese actors such as Eddie Peng and Wallace Huo.

Authorities are also investigating stars who might have breached official caps on performers’ pay. Guidelines on salary limits were issued in September of last year, but have not been strictly enforced. Two months ago, however, dozens of leading Chinese television producers signed an agreement to limit actors’ fees. Performers can earn up to $145,000 (RMB 1 million) per episode, with a limit of $7.25 million (RMB 50 million) per season.

Chinese media have reported that pop queen Wong, Zhao and Shu have been paid more than the allowed maximum for their appearance on reality TV shows. Reports say that the three stars must each return between $7.25 million (RMB 50 million) and $13 million (RMB90 million) of their salaries to meet the requirement. The performers’ representatives could not be reached for comment.

18

ashamed

What happens next for Fan? Despite the heavy penalty, it catapulted her into the global spotlight. Maybe she can procure a Hollywood role that’s more than just a flower vase next?

OCTOBER 4, 2018 12:29AM PT
Chinese Actress Fan Bingbing Free After Detention (Report)
By PATRICK FRATER
Asia Bureau Chief


CREDIT: MATT BARON/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK

Chinese superstar Fan Bingbing, who has been at the center of a storm over unpaid taxes, is said to be at liberty after a period of government detention.

Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post, citing unnamed sources, reported Thursday that Fan has returned to Beijing after an unspecified period of “residential detention.” The paper said that Fan had been held at a “holiday resort” near Wuxi, in Jiangsu province, that has been previously used to interrogate errant Communist Party officials.

Fan disappeared from public view in June and from social media at the beginning of July after being accused of tax fraud by a fellow celebrity. He used social media to publish copies of two contracts that he alleged were evidence of tax evasion by Fan.

On Wednesday, China’s tax authorities announced that she would have to pay hundreds of millions of yuan in back taxes, fines and other penalties. State news agency Xinhua suggested that Fan and her companies could be liable for a staggering $129 million (RMB 883 million).

Fan herself then re-emerged on social media to make an abject apology. “I feel ashamed and guilty for what I did, and here, I offer my sincere apology to everyone,” she wrote on micro-blogging site Weibo.

Despite the immensity of the sums involved, Fan is expected to be able to avoid criminal prosecution if she pays up promptly.

“I feel ashamed that I committed tax evasion in [upcoming film] ‘Unbreakable Spirit’ and other projects by taking advantage of ‘split contracts.’ Throughout these days of my cooperation with the taxation authorities’ investigation of my accounts as well as my company’s, I have realized that, as a public figure, I should’ve observed the law, setting a good example for society and the industry,” Fan wrote.

19

The complete apology translated

The next question in my mind is ‘What will be her next film?’ I suspect it’ll be something very nationalistic, but given the publicity she got out of this in the U.S., it might be parlayed into a significant Hollywood role - that would be very delicate however…unless she defected. :eek:

OCTOBER 3, 2018 4:22AM PT
Fan Bingbing Apologizes for Tax Evasion: ‘I Feel Ashamed and Guilty for What I Did’
By HENRY CHU and VIVIENNE CHOW


Fan Bingbing ‘Everybody Knows’ premiere and opening ceremony, 71st Cannes Film Festival, France - 08 May 2018
CREDIT: ANTHONY HARVEY/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK

Hit with monumental fines for tax evasion, Chinese actress Fan Bingbing made a fulsome apology Wednesday, saying she felt “ashamed and guilty for what I did.”

It was her first public statement after months of silence on her Weibo social media account and after fevered speculation over her disappearance from view. Fans and industry observers have wondered whether Fan, China’s highest-paid actress, had been put under house arrest by Chinese authorities, or even imprisoned and interrogated under duress.

Although she has still yet to be seen in public, Fan said she accepted responsibility for having “lost my ability to govern myself in the face of economic interests, leading myself to break the law.” She said she had “endured an unprecedented amount of pain, undergoing deep self-reflection and introspection….I beg for everyone’s forgiveness!” (Full apology below.)

She credited China’s ruling Communist Party and her fans for her success as an actress. She and her companies now face as much as RMB 883 million ($129 million) in back taxes and fines. Fan said she would pay the penalties and vowed in future to “uphold the law and respect orders.”

Her punishment comes as the Chinese government steps up its campaign to ensure that all citizens toe the party line, which demands adherence to “core socialist values” and frowns on ostentatious displays of wealth. Officials have also launched an investigation into the use of double contracts in the entertainment industry, where only the one of lower value is declared to tax authorities. Fan admitted to the practice.

Within hours, her apology had been re-posted more than 100,000 times and received nearly 500,000 “likes.” Fans generally agreed with the authorities but also declared their love and support for the actress.

“Respect the result, accept criticism. We still [heart emoji],” wrote one Weibo user.

“Humans are not saints. It is impossible for us to make no mistakes. Being able to correct your mistakes is the right thing to do,” another user wrote.

Read Fan’s apology in full, translated from Chinese:

[QUOTE]Letter of Apology

Recently I have endured an unprecedented amount of pain, undergoing deep self-reflection and introspection. I feel ashamed and guilty for what I did, and here, I offer my sincere apology to everyone.

For a long period of time, I did not uphold the responsibility of safeguarding the interests of my country and our society against my personal interests. I feel ashamed that I committed tax evasion in “Unbreakable Spirit” and other projects by taking advantage of “split contracts.” Throughout these days of my cooperation with the taxation authorities’ investigation of my accounts as well as my company’s, I have realized that, as a public figure, I should’ve observed the law, setting a good example for society and the industry. I shouldn’t have lost my ability to govern myself in the face of economic interests, leading myself to break the law. Here I sincerely apologize to society, friends who care about me, the public and the taxation authorities.

I completely accept the penalties given by the taxation authorities after their thorough investigation. I will follow the final order given by the taxation authorities and will do my best to raise funds to pay back the taxes and fines.

I have been an art lover since I was a child, and I’m also fortunate to have run into the rise of the film and television industries. Thanks to guidance from veterans as well as love from the audience, together with my own hard work, I have achieved a bit of success in my career. As an actor, I take pride in showcasing our country’s culture on the global stage, and I do my best to be in the forefront of this. My success owes to the support from my country and the people. Without the great policies of the [Communist] Party and the country, without the love of the people, there would be no Fan Bingbing.

Today I’m facing enormous fears and worries over the mistakes I made! I have failed the country, society’s support and trust, and the love of my devoted fans! I offer my sincere apology here once again! I beg for everyone’s forgiveness!

I believe that, after this incident, I will uphold the law and respect orders, as well as taking my responsibilities. While I will continue to produce great work for everyone, I will keep a close eye on my company’s management to ensure that my company abides by the law, building it into a great company that is cultured and has high integrity, in order to spread positive energy to society!

Again, I apologize to society and my devoted fans, as well as to my friends and family who care about me. I sincerely say: I am sorry!

Fan Bingbing
October 3 2018
[/QUOTE]

20

The humbling and the warning shot

The humbling of Fan Bingbing is a warning shot from China to anyone who thinks they can defy them
Alexandra Ma Oct. 7, 2018, 2:46 AM


Fan Bingbing disappeared for three months and broke her silence this week with a groveling apology to China. Andreas Rentz/Getty

Prominent Chinese actress Fan Bingbing disappeared for three months amid tax evasion allegations, and broke her silence earlier this week to confess and apologize.

Roderic Wye, a former British diplomat in Beijing, said Fan’s humbling was a powerful warning from China that “nobody can escape government scrutiny.”
He added that high-profile disappearances are “often a sign that someone has got into trouble” in Chinese politics.

Fan’s career can still be revived, he said.

Fan Bingbing, one of China’s most famous actresses, mysteriously disappeared for three months after being accused of tax evasion. On Wednesday she broke her silence, offering a simpering apology to Beijing and swearing to change her ways.

Her fall from grace serves as a powerful warning shot from China to show that nobody can escape their scrutiny.

Tax authorities in China’s Jiangsu province on Sunday found that the 37-year-old actress and her companies evaded 248 million yuan ($34 million/£28 million) in taxes, but gave no further details on the companies or this figure.

The state-run Xinhua News agency, a prominent mouthpiece for the Chinese Communist Party, reported that tax authorities fined the star $129 million in unpaid tax and fines, citing government tax officials.

Almost straight afterward, they ran a separate story entitled: “Fan Bingbing’s case is a warning to the literary and entertainment industries to follow the law.”


Fan was accused of evading $34 million in taxes. Andreas Rentz/Getty

“Nobody is too high” for the Chinese government

Roderic Wye, an associate fellow at Chatham House and former first secretary in the British Embassy in Beijing, said that Fan is being made an example of, to prove that the state can come for anybody.

China is grappling with tax evasion cases both within and beyond the entertainment industry, and Fan’s disappearance and punishment shows Beijing’s eagerness to crack down.

China’s message is that “nobody is too high, nobody is above, nobody can escape government scrutiny,” Wye told Business Insider.

He said that Fan’s humbling is “partly a periodic [drive] to crack down on high-level earners, but more importantly it’s part and parcel of the [national campaign] for a new, modest patriot serving the national cause, instead of private gain.”

“That’s one of the messages put across by the [Communist Party] and it helps to have a high-profile example like Fan Bingbing, who people know,” he said.

Wye added that public disappearances such as Fan’s was not unusual, especially in politics.

“It is often a sign that someone has got into trouble if they fail to appear in public doing their normal duties for a period of time in,” the former diplomat said.


Public disappearances are not unusual in Chinese politics. Here, President Xi Jinping makes a toast at a banquet in Beijing in May 2017. Reuters

Will Fan’s humbling work?

Wye said that Fan’s case would likely scare other people in the entertainment industry into making sure they file their taxes properly, but said it was unlikely to tackle the problem entirely.

“High earners in the entertainment industry and [beyond], I suspect, would be looking to their tax returns and make sure they conduct themselves fully in accordance with China’s message,” Wye said, which says that “people should be properly respectful of the law and properly respectful of the new morality in China.”

But he added: "Tax evasion happens all the time, and if China becomes richer and richer, and more and more money sloshes around the system, there will be more and more opportunities for people and businesses to divert it into non-government-approved channels.

“I think it is inevitable under those circumstances that there will be examples of tax evasion and examples of corruption in the government.”

“I don’t see this [Fan’s punishment] as a revenue raising measure, but more of a political social measure to ensure conformity with a behavior of norms that the government wants people to follow,” he added.


Fan’s fall from grace is a warning shot from China to show that nobody can escape their scrutiny. Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

Fan’s financial punishment was “determined by the people’s will and hearts, and helps promote the healthy development of literature and art in the new era,” the state news agency Xinhua reported earlier this week.

Such moralistic language is not uncommon in China, which relies on similar discourse to justify its policies and make sure nobody defies it.

The country ranks its citizens with a social credit system, which aims to reinforce the idea that “keeping trust is glorious and breaking trust is is disgraceful,” according to a government document.

Fan is not the first prominent celebrity to be publicly humiliated and fined over tax evasion in China.

In 2002, actress Liu Xiaoqing was jailed for about a year and forced to pay 7.1 million yuan ($1 million/£790,000) after being charged with tax vasion, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported at the time.

She was accused of evading nearly 6.68 million yuan ($970,000/£750,000) in taxes from 1996 to 2001, Xinhua said.

After her imprisonment, Liu re-emerged in movies and TV shows in China, and even wrote a book about her time in jail, titled “Rise from the Ashes.”


Fan’s career could still be revived. Pascal Le Segretain/Getty

Fan’s career could also be revived when her tax evasion nightmare is over. She could avoid criminal charges if she repays the money in time, Xinhua reported this week.

Australian vitamin brand Swisse, British diamond company De Beers, and French beauty company Guerlain stopped using Fan’s face on their ad campaigns during her disappearance, the South China Morning Post reported.

“Maybe she will find work in Chinese films, and maybe international companies will still be willing to offer her jobs,” Wye said. “I don’t think it’s necessarily the end of her career.”
Would this happen in the USA? Nah, we protect our tax evaders. :o