Taipei, Taiwan (AP)-Beijing police announced on Saturday that Chinese-Canadian pop star Wu Yifan was detained by Beijing police on suspicion of rape, after former members of the South Korean boy group EXO were accused of inducing young women to have sex.
30-year-old Wu was earlier accused by a teenager of having sex with her when she was drunk. Wu denied the accusation.
The teenager said that seven other women contacted her, saying that Wu had tempted them with promises of work and other opportunities. She said that some people were under 18, but did not say whether they were younger than the 14-year-old stipulated in China.
The police statement stated that Wu was “criminally detained” on suspicion of rape “based on relevant information reported on the Internet”, including that he “repeatedly lured young women to have sex.” It did not provide other details.
The pop star previously denied these allegations. “There is no’star chaser’! There is no’underage’!” Wu wrote on his social media account last month. “If there is such a thing, please relax, I will put myself in jail!”
This news is very popular. On Saturday night, Weibo was the number one hot search. Some netizens on the Internet began to comment on Wu’s social accounts, telling him “Get out of China!”
According to the police statement, Wu is a Canadian citizen.
The People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Communist Party of China, published a short article on the Internet, saying, “Having a foreign nationality is not a talisman. No matter how big the name is, there is no immunity.” “
The teenager made her allegations public on social media and later in an interview with the Internet portal Netease. One day after that interview appeared, at least 10 brands, including Porsche and Louis Vuitton, terminated their endorsements and other transactions with Wu.
According to the interview, she thought she met Wu for a career opportunity. Instead, his staff at the scene forced her to drink. As a person who doesn’t go to a bar, she said that her tolerance is very low, and she gets drunk after two drinks. The next day, she woke up in Wu’s bed. She said that he treated her very well that morning and promised to take care of her.
The teenager said that she thought it was the beginning of their relationship. He didn’t stop returning her information until March.
At first, she said she felt sorry for herself. But when she learned that other women had been treated similarly, she said that she felt that there were other women whose situation was worse.
“I don’t believe this is just my personal business. You can even say that this is a problem with the atmosphere of the Chinese entertainment industry.” She said in an interview with Netease.
Wu said that he met the young woman on December 5, 2020, but “I did not force her to drink” and “there is no such’detail’ as she described.”
“I didn’t expect my silence to encourage these rumors, I can’t stand it!” Wu wrote before. “There were many people who could testify that day.”
Both Juvenile and Wu said they have asked the authorities to investigate.
The statement on Saturday did not mention the case, nor did it provide information on the status of the investigation.
© 2021 Canadian Press
