Global brands including luxury fashion house Prada and healthcare company Haleon have cut ties with star Chinese actor and singer Li Yifeng (李易峰), who was detained on prostitution charges as the government continues a crackdown on the entertainment industry.
Li, 35, also known as Evan Li, was arrested by Beijing police on charges of “soliciting prostitution on multiple occasions,” and reportedly confessed to the allegation, a Sina Weibo post by the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau and a report by state-run China Central Television showed.
His detention was followed by a series of international and Chinese companies announcing they have terminated all business relations with the actor, including Prada, where he was a brand ambassador.
Photo: Screen grab from Li YiFeng Weibo
Sensodyne, a toothpaste unit of UK-based Haleon, and Zhenguoli, a beverage brand of dairy giant China Mengniu Dairy, also severed ties with Li.
Chinese authorities often tout confessions by the accused in high-profile cases, which the US, the UK and other human rights advocates have long cited as evidence of coercion or torture.
Some of those cases have involved vice crimes like prostitution, such as American venture capitalist and Sina Weibo opinion-maker Charles Xue (薛蠻子), who disappeared in 2013 and was released after state television ran a taped statement in which he admitted to hiring prostitutes.
China has ordered sweeping actions to clean up the entertainment industry, with the broadcast regulator moving to ban film stars with “incorrect” politics, cap salaries and rein in celebrity fan culture.
Star pianist Li Yundi (李雲迪) was arrested for soliciting a prostitute in October last year as part of the wider crackdown on the sector. He has not been seen in public since.
Li Yifeng was previously recognized by the authorities as he played the role of Mao Zedong (毛澤東) in The Pioneer, a patriotic movie released last year to celebrate the Chinese Communist Party’s 100th anniversary.
He has also appeared in multiple promotion videos for government agencies, including the Ministry of State Security and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.
With more than 60 million followers on the microblogging platform Sina Weibo, Li Yifeng was involved in the boycott of Hugo Boss over its pledge not to use cotton produced in Xinjiang over concerns it is made with forced labor by Uighurs.
School bullies in Singapore are to face caning under new guidelines, but the education minister on Tuesday said it would be meted out only as a last resort with strict safeguards. Human rights groups regularly criticize Singapore for the use of corporal punishment, which remains part of the school and criminal justice systems, but authorities have defended it as a deterrent to crime and serious misconduct. Caning was discussed in the parliament after legislators asked how it would be used in relation to bullying in schools. The debate followed stricter guidelines on serious student misconduct, including bullying, unveiled by the Singaporean Ministry of
As evening falls in Fiji’s capital, a steady stream of people approaches a makeshift clinic that is a first line of defense against one of the world’s fastest-growing HIV epidemics. In the South Pacific nation — a popular tourist destination of just under a million people — more than 2,000 new HIV cases were recorded last year, a 26 percent increase from 2024. The government has declared an HIV outbreak and described it as a national crisis. “It’s spreading like wildfire,” said Siteri Dinawai, 46, who came to be tested. The Moonlight Clinic, a converted minibus parked in a suburban cul-de-sac in Suva, is
A MESSAGE: Japan’s participation in the Balikatan drills is a clear deterrence signal to China not to attack Taiwan while the US is busy in the Middle East, an analyst said The Japan Self-Defense Forces yesterday fired a Type 88 anti-ship missile during a joint maritime exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces, hitting a decommissioned Philippine Navy ship in waters facing the disputed South China Sea, in drills that underscore Tokyo’s rising willingness to project military power on China’s doorstep. The drill took place as Manila and Tokyo began talks on a potential defense equipment transfer, made possible by Japan’s decision to scrap restrictions on military exports. The discussions include the possible early transfer of Abukuma-class destroyers and TC-90 aircraft to the Philippines, Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. Philippine Secretary of
Separatists in Alberta are preparing to submit a petition tomorrow that they said has enough signatures to force a referendum on independence for the oil-rich Canadian province. Polls indicate the pro-independence camp remains a minority among Alberta’s 5 million people, but has hit a historic high of roughly 30 percent. Alberta separatists are also closer than ever to forcing a referendum, riding momentum fueled by intensifying grievances over Ottawa’s control of the provincial oil industry. They have also undeniably gotten a boost from the return to power of US President Donald Trump. After launching a petition in January, Stay Free Alberta, the group
RSS