Where in the world is Fan Bingbing?

[GeneChing]

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.

[GeneChing]

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.

[GeneChing]

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.

[GeneChing]

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.

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:

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

[GeneChing]

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.

[GeneChing]

I'd say it's Fan's legs, but most of the publicity photos only focus on her face and her formal evening gowns.

OCTOBER 8, 2018 10:19AM PT
China Cracks Down on Entertainment Industry Taxes After Fan Bingbing Scandal
By VIVIENNE CHOW


CREDIT: INVISION/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK

China’s entertainment companies and top-earning celebrities have been warned to re-examine their taxes dating back to 2016 in light of the Fan Bingbing tax evasion scandal.

The State Administration of Taxation said in a statement released on Monday that beginning on Oct. 10, provincial tax authorities will inform local film and television production companies, talent management agencies, performance companies, studios of individual celebrities, as well as relevant companies and high-earning film and television industry practitioners about the re-examination of their tax returns submitted since 2016. Companies and related industry workers who discover and pay their unpaid taxes upon self-conducted inquiry of their previous tax returns by Dec. 31 will not be penalized, the statement said.

From January to the end of February 2019, tax authorities will target certain companies and industry workers to “further self-correct” their taxes based on their self-conducted re-examination results. Those who are warned to self-correct their taxes at this stage will be penalized, but the level of punishment will vary depending on the situation. Heavy penalties will be applied to those who fail to comply between March and June next year.

Authorities will review the current taxation policies applied on film and television industries and set up a new, effective system by the end of July 2019.

It emerged last week that Bingbing, China’s most famous actress who disappeared for 123 days when she was reportedly arrested, was accused of tax evasion after splitting contracts for her appearance in war epic “Unbreakable Spirit.” She was ordered to pay a total of $129 million (RMB880 million) in unpaid taxes, late payments, and penalties. The State Administration of Taxation also announced that five officials from the regional taxation office of Wuxi of the Jiangsu province, where Fan’s company is based, have been either fired or demoted.

The share price of Huayi Brothers, which produces “Cell Phone 2” and acquired the local rights to all-female action drama “355,” both starring Fan, plunged to a new low at $0.73 (RMB5.02) per share on the first trading day after China’s national holiday week, down more than 50% from its peak at $1.51 (RMB10.42) at the beginning of 2018.

[GeneChing]

The View by Mimi Zou
Fan Bingbing’s fall from grace turns the spotlight on the far-reaching yin-yang economy in China
Mimi Zou says separate contracts for official use and for execution by private parties are common in the construction industry and property transactions, and are even legitimised by the courts
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 09 October, 2018, 10:04am
UPDATED : Tuesday, 09 October, 2018, 10:37pm
Mimi Zou



When Fan Bingbing “disappeared” in July, there was much speculation about what had happened to China’s highest-paid actress. She returned to the spotlight last Wednesday when Chinese authorities announced that she has been ordered to pay nearly 884 million yuan (US$129 million) in unpaid taxes, fines, and penalties for tax-related offences. Fan is the most high-profile personality to date to be subject to the Chinese government’s crackdowns on celebrities’ earnings and tax evasion practices.

Central to the authorities’ investigation is Fan’s use of “yin-yang contracts” to conceal her real earnings. The actor entered into two contracts for the same work: a “yang” (“in the light”) contract showing lower earnings for the tax authorities and a separate “yin” (“in the dark”) contract with a larger figure that is unreported. Such contracts have become quite prevalent in the Chinese entertainment industry to circumvent tax laws and, more recently, a policy capping television and film stars’ earnings to discourage “money worship” and “distortion of social values”.

The Fan Bingbing scandal unfolded in June, when a television presenter leaked on social media documents of two yin-yang contracts that were purportedly linked to Fan’s work in the film Air Strike. One contract was for 10 million yuan, another for 50 million yuan. At the time, Fan’s studio denied any wrongdoing by the actress. The TV presenter later withdrew the allegations and apologised to Fan, but the tax authorities had already launched their probe.

According to the State Administration of Taxation, Fan had earned 30 million yuan for her work on the film Air Strike but had only declared 10 million to the authorities, thus evading 6.18 million yuan in personal income tax. Fan and her company also owed 255 million yuan in unpaid taxes.

Beyond the entertainment industry, yin-yang contracts are found across a variety of sectors and transactions in China. For example, in construction projects, the yang contract is signed by the construction unit and the bid-winning contractor in accordance with Chinese Bidding Law and official bidding documents.

This contract is registered with the administrative department of the construction unit. Meanwhile, a yin contract is concluded between the parties in private, usually to avoid administrative supervision and management by the relevant government authorities. The yin contract spells out the actual execution of the project.

Such contracts are also common in property transactions. The yin contract indicates the real transaction price, while a yang contract stating a lower price is produced for the transfer of title registration to enable the parties to pay less capital gains and other taxes.

Another type of yang contract is one with a higher price that is submitted to the bank to apply for a bigger mortgage. The parties may also attempt to split the full transaction price into two contracts: one sales contract – which states a low sale price for the property – and a separate contract for refurbishments and furniture.


A man works on the construction site of a residential skyscraper in Shanghai in November 2016. Yin-yang contracts are commonplace in both the construction industry and property market. Photo: AFP

While the use of such contracts for tax evasion or other unlawful purposes attracts administrative and possibly criminal sanctions, are yin-yang contracts unenforceable per se if a dispute arises between the contracting parties? There is no easy answer.

Chinese courts have adopted a case-by-case approach to determining the validity of yin-yang contracts

Under Chinese contract law, a contract established according to law becomes effective at the time of its establishment. If relevant laws and administrative regulations require the approval or registration of a contract before it comes into effect, then those provisions apply. As a general principle, a valid agreement between the parties is the genuine expression of their intention. Thus, while the yang contract may be the registered official contract, the yin contract reflects the parties’ true intention.

Furthermore, the main Chinese contract law legislation lists several grounds on which a contract can be deemed void: contracts that appear legitimate on the surface but conceal an illegal purpose; contracts that violate mandatory provisions of laws and administrative regulations; and, contracts that harm social and public interests. On these grounds, Fan’s use of yin-yang contracts for tax evasion renders both contracts void.

In judicial practice, Chinese courts have adopted a case-by-case approach to determining the validity of yin-yang contracts. For example, if the difference in the value of the two contracts is small, courts tend to recognise the validity of either. Sometimes, courts may determine the price clause to be invalid while upholding the validity of the remaining contract.



Fan’s fall from grace and the recent government crackdown on celebrities’ tax-dodging schemes have redirected our attention towards the ongoing problems of China’s yin-yang economy. In 2010, the Post called for the stamping out of rampant yin-yang contracts in property transactions, since these practices distort property prices and the market.

However, yin-yang contracts, which have become ubiquitous in many parts of the economy, will not disappear after the latest crackdown. One can only hope that the long-standing tacit tolerance of such practices by government authorities and courts will begin to change.

Mimi Zou is the inaugural Fangda Fellow in Chinese Commercial Law at Oxford University. She is the author of An Introduction to Chinese Contract Law

China’s yin-yang economy. I wish the U.S. had such a cute name for its tax evaders.

[Jimbo]

With all this going on (like China's detention of the head of Interpol), I wonder if Jackie Chan has anything to worry about regarding tax evasion (or the accusation of it)?

[GeneChing]

With all this going on (like China's detention of the head of Interpol), I wonder if Jackie Chan has anything to worry about regarding tax evasion (or the accusation of it)?

Jackie dodged that bullet early in this scandal. Taking him down would be really huge given his global status. Fan has global status too, but only in the international film festivals, not on the pop level like Jackie, not yet.

[GeneChing]

I could've sworn I started a 355 thread here before. Well, here it is now, fallout from the Fan Bingbing scandal.

OCTOBER 10, 2018 1:00AM PT
Fan Bingbing May Have Been Found, but ‘355’ Still Needs to Locate a Star
By MATT DONNELLY
Senior Film Writer
@MattDonnelly


CREDIT: JOEL C RYAN/INVISION/AP/REX/SHUT

“Kill the chicken to scare the monkeys,” goes an old Chinese proverb about making an example of an individual to rattle the many.

Embattled Chinese actress and global celebrity Fan Bingbing, who last week admitted to running afoul of her government and evading millions of dollars in taxes, is “absolutely” being made an example of, Hollywood insiders and regional experts who spoke to Variety say.

After becoming the subject of wild conspiracy theories over her well-being before resurfacing Oct. 3 in a state of deep contrition, Fan is also likely to also face consequences in the very realm that could save her from financial ruin: show business.

Producers on her next gig, the international all-female action movie “355,” are prepared to fire and replace her should she not emerge from scandal in a manner that satisfies the government, film distributors and Chinese moviegoers, multiple individuals close to the project say. For now, the team is content to watch and wait, with production not expected to begin until spring of 2019.

Any decision would specifically be made to please Huayi Brothers, the entertainment company that paid a hefty $20 million in May for the rights to release “355” in mainland China when the deal was packaged out of the Cannes Film Festival.

While the film will also star Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong’o, Penélope Cruz and Marion Cotillard, a top Chinese star would be crucial for any mainland distributor to recoup such a high rights fee.

The state could also impose a media ban on Fan and force an acting hiatus, as it did in 2007 with Tang Wei, the breakout star of Ang Lee’s “Lust, Caution.” Tang was removed from all theatrical prints and advertisements for the film and did not work again for three years.

Representatives for “355” director Simon Kinberg and FilmNation, the movie’s sales agent, declined to comment for this story. A rep for Huayi Brothers did not respond to Variety’s request for comment.

A $130 million bill for unpaid taxes, late fees and fines, and an empty dance card are not Fan’s only woes. “The bigger issue for Huayi and other producers is how uncertain public reaction will be. The public is not sympathetic to those who have flouted the law,” Clayton Dube, director of the U.S.-China Institute at USC Annenberg, says of “355’s” commercial prospects in China. “She’s in a slightly different category, because she wasn’t taking public money,” Dube adds. “But she’s not contributing to the public purse. That’s still corruption.”

Fan was reportedly detained and grilled for months over secret contracts she’s said to have signed in parallel with the deals she officially reported to tax authorities regarding her film work. While fans wondered about her disappearance from public view, Chinese academics awarded her a shocking score of zero in an annual state-sanctioned report ranking the “social responsibility” of Chinese celebrities, presaging her spectacular fall from grace.

The media coverage labeled her toxic for the tens of millions of Chinese youths who obsessively follow her as an artist, fashion plate and ultimate influencer. While the social responsibility report likened her to the Chinese equivalent of a Kardashian sister, Fan’s brand is observably upmarket.

The bigger issue is how uncertain public reaction will be. The public is not sympathetic to those who have flouted the law.”
CLAYTON DUBE, U.S.-CHINA INSTITUTE, USC ANNENBERG

She’s been the face of campaigns for Louis Vuitton, jeweler De Beers, Adidas and luxury trinket maker Montblanc. That last company dropped her as a result of the tax scandal. More are expected to follow suit.

It’s not all bad news for Fan. Global agency CAA has no plans to drop her from its client lists as she works on mending fences, an individual close to the actress says. A CAA spokesperson declined to comment.

CAA does not rep Fan in China, but scouts global branding and acting opportunities for the star. The thinking inside the agency is that Fan will not face any criminal charge as long as she settles up with the government, and she still has plenty of support from her global fan base. CAA would also be shielded from any investigation as it takes no commission on her Chinese deals.

An important sign that the government does not wish to scrub Fan from the face of the Earth lies in her active account on Chinese social media giant Sina Weibo, says Dube. “It’s striking to me that they didn’t pull the plug and close her account. They didn’t make her a nonperson,” he says.

Indeed, it was on Weibo that Fan made an abject apology for the entire mess. “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,” she wrote.

Fan will be preoccupied with being the sacrificial chicken for some time. As for the monkeys? There are nearly 200 well-paid actors now in the government’s crosshairs, reports say, based on the muckraking of a Chinese talk-show host named Cui Yongyuan.

Cui is credited with exposing Fan’s parallel contracts, known as “yin-yang” deals, and says he’s got a list of 585 actors and crew in China who engaged in similar practices. An industrywide investigation is under way.

[GeneChing]

There's a short vid

Chinese star Fan Bingbing seen in Beijing after lengthy disappearance
By Ben Westcott, CNN
Updated 6:28 AM ET, Wed October 17, 2018
Fan Bingbing seen after lengthy disappearance

Hong Kong (CNN)Chinese film star Fan Bingbing has appeared in public for the first time since she vanished without a trace three months ago, sparking rumors that she had been disappeared by the Chinese Communist Party.

In a video posted by Baidu News and shared on Chinese social media site Weibo, Fan was shown leaving Beijing Capital International Airport on Monday night, wearing dark glasses to hide her face and followed by a man with a large black umbrella.
Despite her attempts to slip in under the radar, the 37-year-old actress was caught on camera by paparazzi photographers.
CNN has not been able to independently confirm the veracity of the photos.


Actress Fan Bingbing attends the 2017 Time 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City.

Fan is among China's best known film stars, commanding million-dollar contracts for her performances in dozens of Chinese productions. She has also appeared in large international film franchises, such as X-Men.
But after allegations of tax avoidance by Fan were aired on Chinese social media in June, the high-profile actress disappeared from public life without a statement or explanation.


Fan's disappearance caused speculation she had been detained by the Chinese government.

Experts speculated she had been put into detention by the Chinese government while the tax allegations against her were investigated, a worrying development given her huge public profile and international standing.
"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 in September.


Fan wore dark glasses and was followed and partially shielded by a man with a large black umbrella.

On October 2, the Chinese government announced Fan had been fined for tax evasion, using multiple contracts to hide large secret additional salaries for her performances.
Fan had to pay $130 million, according to the government, which included $42 million in late taxes and fees. Because she was a first-time offender, the government said there would be no criminal charges filed.
The actress posted an apology to her official social media accounts, saying she "completely accepts" the decision of the 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.
Despite her apology and fine, the controversy appears to still be affecting movie projects involving Fan. There was speculation her latest film, "Air Strike," could be pulled in China after its director appeared to make a resigned statement on Weibo. The World War II film, produced by Mel Gibson, also stars Bruce Willis and Adrien Brody.
"It is time to put (it) down ... I have apologized to my main partner who has kept on supporting me, my distribution team who has been working hard, and viewers who have been anticipating the film," he said on his verified account.
CNN has not received official confirmation of whether "Air Strike" will be released in China.

We never started a thread on Air Strike. It didn't seem Kung Fooey enough.

[GeneChing]

I wonder if we'll ever see it now.

Film Starring Fan Bingbing, Bruce Willis Canceled After Tax Case
7:40 PM PDT 10/17/2018 by the Associated Press


George Pimentel/WireImage
Fan Bingbing

The director of Air Strike, featuring Chinese actress Fan Bingbing, says the film’s release has been canceled in the wake of her disappearance and conviction on tax evasion charges.

The World War II thriller, also starring Bruce Willis and Adrien Brody, was to have been released Oct. 26.

However, director Xiao Feng on Wednesday posted on his Weibo miniblog that it was “time to let go” after eight years of work on the film.

Chinese tax authorities this month ordered Fan and companies she represents to pay taxes and penalties totaling $130 million, ending speculation over the fate of one of the country’s highest-profile entertainers three months after she disappeared from public view.

State media said Fan evaded taxes by using two separate contracts for her work on Air Strike.

The actress has starred in dozens of movies and TV series in China and is best known internationally for her role as Blink in 2014′s X-Men: Days of Future Past, a cameo in the Chinese version of Iron Man 3 and for star turns on the red carpet at Cannes as recently as May.

Before her disappearance, she had been booked to star with Penelope Cruz in the Hollywood film 355.

Fan posted an apology on her official Weibo account, saying that she accepted the tax authorities’ decision and would “try my best to overcome all difficulties and raise funds to pay back taxes and fines.”

“I am unworthy of the trust of the society and let down the fans who love me,” she wrote in her first update of her Weibo.com microblog since June 2.

Fan’s disappearance coincided with a crackdown by Chinese authorities on high salaries for actors that can eat up much of the cost of a production. In June, regulators capped star pay at 40 percent of a TV show’s entire production budget and 70 percent of the total paid to all the actors in a film.

[GeneChing]

Well now, we do have a thread on Unbreakable Spirit

I'll copy this off our Where in the world is Fan Bingbing? thread to there too.

The bombing indeed. Apt title.

OCTOBER 17, 2018 6:07AM PT
China Release of Fan Bingbing-Bruce Willis Film ‘Unbreakable Spirit’ Is Scrapped
By VIVIENNE CHOW


CREDIT: COURTESY OF CHINA FILM GROUP

The planned theatrical release of big-budget Chinese war movie “Unbreakable Spirit” has been scrapped following allegations of money laundering. The film had earlier been at the center of the tax avoidance allegations involving actress Fan Bingbing.

The film, previously known as “The Bombing,” was originally set for an August release. That was rescheduled to Oct. 26 after the Fan affair became major news. But Chinese media now report the release as canceled altogether.

Aside from Fan, the film has a stellar cast that includes Bruce Willis, Liu Ye, and Nicholas Tse. Director Xiao Feng said the film had taken eight years to make.

“It is time to let it go,” Xiao Feng wrote on social media. “My sincere apologies to my crew, the distribution team, and all audiences who had high expectations of the film.”

The film’s distributors, Beijing United Exhibition Partners, and Qi Tai Culture did not respond to Variety’s inquiries.

The decision comes a day after Cui Yongyuan, the TV host who sparked the Fan scandal by posting what he alleged were double contracts intended to defraud the tax authorities, said that the film’s budget had been artificially inflated.

The film’s executive producer Wang Ding has claimed that the film did not exceed its original estimated production budget of $21.7 million (RMB150 million). But other sources have estimated the budget at $90 million.

Cui alleges that vastly larger sums of Shanghai pension fund money were washed through the production. “[Unbreakable Spirit] had more than $432 million (RMB3 billion) coming from unidentifiable sources. During production, $245 million (RMB1.7 billion) was extracted through dirty tricks. This is why the director and crew are unable to clarify exactly how much money has been spent,” Cui wrote. “We must boycott the film.”

“Unbreakable Spirit” has a history of financial woes. One of the original investors, Hehe Film & Television, pulled out after its parent company, Kuailu, was caught up in a box-office fraud scandal surrounding “Ip Man 3” in March 2016. Shi Jianxiang, Kuailu’s former chairman and the original producer of “Unbreakable Spirit,” fled the country and is currently on China’s international wanted list. Beijing-based Yuanhua Pictures took on Hehe’s part and kept the production going.

[GeneChing]

The Fan Bingbing saga shows China’s willingness to control overly wealthy celebrities
A comprehensive explainer of everything that’s happened so far
By Shannon Liao @Shannon_Liao Oct 23, 2018, 3:33pm EDT


Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images

China’s highest-paid actress Fan Bingbing (X-Men: Days of Future Past) disappeared this summer following accusations of tax evasion. This month, an apology for breaking the law appeared on her social media account, and Fan has been ordered to pay 884 million yuan ($127 million) to avoid criminal prosecution. Last week, she resurfaced in paparazzi shots, but the Chinese release of her upcoming film Air Strike (also commonly translated as Unbreakable Spirit or The Big Bomb), also starring Bruce Willis, was canceled.

In the span of four months, one of the most famous and beloved women in China transformed into a symbol of corruption in a saga that captivated Chinese social media. So what happened?

It all began in May when TV presenter Cui Yongyuan posted screenshots on the social media service Weibo of what appeared to be Fan’s employment contract for an upcoming sequel to the very successful 2003 film Cell Phone. It stated she would earn 10 million yuan ($1.4 million), have two luxury cars and a daily food allowance of 1,500 yuan ($215). Cui used the caption, “Don’t bother acting, you really suck!”

The next day, he posted again, suggesting that Fan was being paid through two different contracts for the movie: one for 10 million yuan and another for 50 million yuan ($7.2 million). Only the first contract would be disclosed to tax authorities, while the second was kept secret so that Fan could avoid paying taxes on it, a common practice known as a “yin-yang contract.” He also stated that the actress only had to work for four days for the combined 60 million yuan.

Fan’s studio responded by threatening to sue Cui for libel. Bizarrely, Cui later apologized for attacking Fan and said in an interview with local media that the two contracts he shared had nothing to do with her, but rather a “gang” of other people who had been involved in drafting them. When Fan was fined in October, however, he encouraged people to boycott Air Strike. He was also able to pocket 100,000 yuan ($14,393) as a whistleblower’s fee for exposing Fan.

In June, Chinese tax authorities announced new rules for the film industry, curbing the ability of top actors like Fan to acquire immense wealth. Actors would no longer be allowed to earn more than 70 percent of the cast’s wages combined, or more than 40 percent of production costs. Although Fan wasn’t mentioned in the announcement, the tax authorities criticized the film industry for “fostering money worship” and allowing young people to “blindly chase celebrities.” The timing and the wording of the announcement indicated that Fan was being targeted because she had amassed too much wealth and influence.

Then in July, Fan vanished. A Chinese news report stated that authorities were investigating her and had barred her from leaving the country. That report was soon deleted, likely pulled by state censors. Social media posts questioning her disappearance were also removed. Despite the censorship, what happened to Fan became a hot topic in China and online; her name was the number one search result on the search engine Baidu the day after her sentence was declared.


Baidu’s top news stories after tax authorities announce Fan Bingbing’s fines.

Over the past two years, Fan has endorsed 122 brands, including Louis Vuitton, Montblanc, Mercedes-Benz, and Cartier. But as her scandal continued, many of those companies began to distance themselves. Thai travel retailer King Power dropped Fan as its brand ambassador in September, and Australian vitamin brand Swisse stopped using Fan in promotional photos around the same time. Montblanc confirmed to The New York Times in September that it had terminated its contract with Fan. In August, prior to Air Strike’s Chinese cancellation, a new poster for the film appeared, excluding Fan. Although she isn’t blacklisted, Fan Bingbing is now a tainted name in China.

continued next post

[GeneChing]

WHY FAN BINGBING?
China’s film industry is riddled with yin-yang contracts, so why was Fan, in particular, targeted? The most obvious answer is her cultural and financial power; even the popularity of Chinese president Xi Jinping is dwarfed in stature by Fan’s stardom, and that’s precisely the problem.

In March, Xi abolished presidential term limits that would have ended his rule by 2022. The move signaled that China had ended its reform era, where a new leader would take power every 10 years and shape the country in a different way. Some have even compared Xi to Mao Zedong, who developed a personality cult and created the “paramount leader” style of rule, where he would still retain control even when he wasn’t officially the head honcho.

NETIZENS ENJOY MOCKING XI JINPING BY COMPARING HIM TO WINNIE THE POOH

But on social media, Xi doesn’t always fare so well. In fact, it’s the one place people can enjoy some level of free expression by mocking him. Although this mockery is heavily censored, the occasional meme slips through. So many people compared Xi to the portly bear Winnie the Pooh that the government ended up banning a Winnie the Pooh film from the country.

In contrast, social media posts about Fan — and her reputation — were overwhelmingly positive, prior to the tax-evasion scandal. They primarily focused on her beauty and her charity work. Since breaking into the film industry 15 years ago, Fan has become an icon. That’s dangerous to the government, and her gender only compounds the problem.



Fan once told Chinese reporters, “I don’t need to marry into a wealthy family. I am my own wealthy family.” It was a seemingly innocuous statement that could also be interpreted as subversive to the patriarchal state. The sense that a strong woman could be self-sufficient, not need a man, and even run this world, isn’t just a series of Beyoncé lyrics, but a real threat Beijing is taking seriously. As Jiayang Fan of The New Yorker puts it, a woman rising in power through wealth and fame is a real “existential terror” that the regime is facing.

Fan’s rags-to-riches success story has now become a communist morality tale about how the rich need to be shamed and punished for excess. Perhaps to drive this point home, the Beijing Normal University and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences produced survey results in September that found that only nine out of 100 television and film personalities were “socially responsible.” Judging celebrities on their professional work, charitable donations, and overall integrity, the researchers ignored Fan’s substantial charity work and gave her the lowest ranking out of all 100.

On October 3rd, Fan reappeared on Weibo with a “letter of apology.” It reads: “I shouldn’t have lost my ability to govern myself in the face of economic interests, leading myself to break the law,” and, more alarming, that “without the great policies of the [Communist] Party and the country, without the love of the people, there would be no Fan Bingbing.” The apology admits Fan committed tax evasion by signing yin-yang contracts for Air Strike. Even if we are to believe that she wrote that apology herself, it was almost certainly produced under coercive circumstances at the government’s behest.

Jiayang Fan
✔
@JiayangFan
In China,every time I mentioned Fan Bingbing's name, some local would feel compelled to say,"Ah, #1 beauty under the heavens!"（天下第一美女）As much as beauty is prized in China, suffice it to say, the greatest beauty in the world can't seduce the Party.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-45426882 …



10:09 PM - Sep 11, 2018
Actress Fan Bingbing
Vanished China star gets 0% 'goodness' rating
Fan Bingbing, a film star not seen in more than two months, is ranked last in a report judging A-listers.

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On the same day Fan reappeared in public, Air Strike’s cancellation in China was announced in a brief post by the film’s director on Weibo. It was “time to let go” after eight years of working on it, he wrote. Now that Fan has resurfaced and apologized, it appears that the government has secured its ill-gotten victory. Other celebrities who have used yin-yang contracts to evade taxes have been given a grace period to pay up before December 31st and be exempt from punishment. Should Fan and the others not make the appropriate payments, their finances will be escalated to criminal cases handled by the police.

For more than a decade, Fan has been a strong, powerful woman adored by the public. Her demure apology and obeisance to Beijing is exactly what the government sought by singling her out: a return to the status quo that would put her in her place. Underneath the surface accusations of tax evasion and extravagant excess, there was another story unfolding: a subtle power struggle between China’s strong woman and its strongman leader. The latter appears to have won.

The next chapter will be - what does Fan Bingbing do next?