Sexy film roles shouldn't be a barrier to political office: Diana Peng Dan
Past jobs - even raunchy film roles - shouldn't be a barrier to political office, actress insists
A person's background or job should not stop them from seeking election. So says actress-turned-film director and political adviser Diana Peng Dan.
Peng, known for her raunchy roles in the 1990s, caused a stir when she was appointed to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in her native Gansu earlier this year.
"As a citizen you have to care about your country," Peng said of her new role in an interview with the South China Morning Post yesterday. "Everyone has the right to elect and to be elected, regardless of your background."
Peng's appointment to the political advisory body became a topic of debate in Hong Kong, especially when Beijing-loyalist heavyweight Cheng Yiu-tong used the possibility of "sex symbols" getting elected as justification for the screening of candidates for the 2017 chief executive election. Online commentators used Peng's job in Gansu, which follows a string of semi-nude appearances in films and television series, to poke fun at Cheng.
The 40-year-old Peng's latest project, her debut as a film director, also has political connotations. War film On The Nan Ni Wan Frontier will premiere in Hong Kong tonight.
Set during the dark days of the second world war, as China struggled to repel the Japanese invasion, the film features a subplot about revolutionary hero Xi Zhongxun , the father of President Xi Jinping .