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LettersViya tax scandal is a good reminder on China celebrities’ behaviour

  • Readers discuss the aftermath of the Viya tax avoidance scandal, progress of electric vehicle adoption in Hong Kong and the pros and cons of ‘slashie’ life

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Chinese online influencer Viya prepares for live-streaming on the e-commerce platform Taobao in May 2020. Photo: Getty Images
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Viya’s sudden fall from grace is a good reminder, especially for those in China who are possessed of both high income and good reputation. Hence, I don’t agree with the article in the Post about Viya that was classified as “China tech crackdown”. While Viya’s account was attached to the online shopping giant Taobao, she is also an influential icon in China’s e-commerce sector who has been called the “live-streaming queen” and has millions of fans.

The hashtag about Viya’s tax evasion case was at the top of Weibo’s “hot topic” search list for hours. It was highlighted in crimson, which represents a hashtag with especially high traffic.

Viya has never had an image problem, as far as Chinese netizens are concerned, before the current scandal. Instead, she has contributed a lot to the nationwide poverty alleviation effort, which has been a focus of the state media and widely reported.

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There is no doubt that Viya has been a positive representative of all Chinese women in this new era, and the state needs her to be a good role model. She was awarded the “March 8 Red Flag Bearer” – a national honour for women who have made an outstanding contribution to society – for her role in helping the country recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The state has been paying more attention to celebrities in recent years and targeting those it feels set a bad example to the public, taking a particular interest in those who evade taxes. For example, actresses Fan Bingbing and Zheng Shuang fell foul of the government’s zero-tolerance policy for tax avoidance. Violating these policies can result in celebrities being blocked and removed from all public platforms.

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Why live streaming is becoming China’s most-profitable form of electronic media

Why live streaming is becoming China’s most-profitable form of electronic media

We can treat the current Viya scandal like the story of a fallen entertainment star, much like the scandals of Fan and Zheng before her. The state media helped form her positive image before covering her scandal and making strong criticisms of her. It has dealt with her strongly and paid no heed to her celebrity status, what contributions she has made to society or how much praise she has received.

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