Detained star to pay Beijing $200m
China’s highest-earning actress, who disappeared three months ago, has resurfaced after agreeing to pay the equivalent of NZ$200 million in unpaid taxes and fines and making a grovelling public apology to the government.
Fan Bingbing, who appeared in the X-Men film Days of Future Past, is presumed to have been secretly detained by the authorities. She broke her silence by posting a letter on social media yesterday in which she admitted wrongdoing and promised to ‘‘overcome all difficulties and raise funds’’ to repay what she owes, thereby avoiding criminal charges. ‘‘There would be no Fan Bingbing were it not for the good policies of the party and the state, and the loving care from the public,’’ she wrote.
It is thought that she was held under what is known as ‘‘state surveillance at a designated place’’ in the eastern province of Jiangsu.
Her troubles began in the summer after Cui Yongyuan, a celebrity television host, publicly accused her of evading taxes. The government has been seeking to tighten its grip over the entertainment industry amid concerns that the huge salaries stars were being paid were fuelling public discontent about disparities of wealth. Salary caps have been imposed on television productions.
Forbes magazine has estimated Fan to be the fifthhighest earning actress in the world, making US$17 million from her roles in 2016. She also has lucrative sponsorship and endorsement deals but some were dropped during her disappearance and the release of some films in which she stars was delayed.
President Xi Jinping has demanded that celebrities behave as models of probity and promote socialist values, and the government is engaged in a widening clampdown on dissent against anyone deemed a threat to the establishment.
It appears that the authorities decided to make an example of Fan, 37, who was last sighted on July 1 at a Shanghai hospital. Her unexplained disappearance showed that fame offers no protection against an increasingly assertive state. It was claimed that she had fabricated business contracts and documents to disguise her income and lower her tax liability.
In her letter she wrote: ‘‘I have failed my nurturing country. I have failed society’s trust, and I have failed the love of my fans. For the past few months, I have experienced pain and torture like never before.
‘‘After personal reflection, I feel deeply ashamed and guilty for what I’ve done.’’