Beijing authorities have urged the Hong Kong pop stars linked to the sex photos scandal that has gripped the Chinese-speaking world since last month 'to show remorse and to reform themselves' if they want to be welcomed back to the mainland.
'The Chinese nation is a nation with a good sense of cultural refinement, and [the people] should have dealt with this material, in particular, with composure,' Vice-Minister of Culture Zhou Heping said yesterday.
Mr Zhou added that he personally thought the photos should not have been allowed to reach the internet.
'For some individuals who have done something inappropriate or wrong, their future will lie in what projects they're involved in and what films they star in,' he said, without explaining what the mistakes were or why they should feel remorse.
The comments, believed to be the first official response to the scandal, came as a television commercial with Hong Kong actress Cecilia Cheung Pak-chi promoting a women's hygiene product for mainland firm Enwei Group was reportedly taken off the air after viewer complaints.
Cheung and Gillian Chung Yan-tung, who is a member of Hong Kong pop duo Twins, were among a string of female celebrities in photos showing sex acts with singer Edison Chen Koon-hei.
