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She pissed off the government by using 'yin-yang contracts' which is both illegal and tax evasion. Of course she's not the only one doing it, but she is the mos

She pissed off the government by using 'yin-yang contracts' which is both illegal and tax evasion. Of course she's not the only one doing it, but she is the most famous actress in China. They probably have her in an re-education center. She's also being made an example off to make the other actors/actresses more honest and take less salary for social stability. Basically by law in China, only 40% of a movie's budget can be for actors/actresses. A max of 70% of the 40% for actors/actresses can be paid to a single actor/actresses. But you have these huge stars like Fan Bingbing who wants more, so what do you do? You have two contracts, an official one with lower salary that is also reported to the government and an unofficial one that's really how much they are paid.

bookofjoe 8y ago
>Given the total lack of communication she is probably dead. Hardly. Quotes from OP: Since her release last October, Fan has consciously kept a low profile. (She and her agency declined to speak with VANITY FAIR for this story.) Her first post on social media after her public apology was an overt display of fealty to the Chinese government. On November 17, when a director made a pro-Taiwan comment at the Golden Horse Awards, Fan shared a pro-China post from the Communist youth league. “China,” she said, “cannot miss out on any inch.” Fan, for her part, appears to be quietly plotting a comeback. Throughout the crisis, her production company never shut its doors. “Of course she lost a lot of money,” said Fang, the producer. “But she’s not completely depressed.” Fang and Li, Fan’s best friend and frequent collaborator, have been discussing future projects for their favorite star. When I asked Li why she would risk casting Fan, she told me that the anguish Fan has gone through would become the well she draws from. “Nobody can be a better actress than her,” Li said. Not long ago, Fan had drinks with her friend Li, who told me that they discussed Fan’s ordeal. If the best art reflects its times, the two concluded, who better to cast as a lead than Fan Ye herself? Fan laughed at her luck. Perhaps there was an upside to becoming the world’s most celebrated missing person. “I worked so hard,” she told her friend, “and this is how I become famous.”
Cthulhu_ 8y ago
I think it's kinda weird to just make someone disappear, instead of convict them in public - make other rich Chinese nationals realize what the consequences for tax evasion are.
- chii 8y ago
  convicting means pinning an exact crime, with evidence, which implies that as long as you don't commit _this_ crime you're fine. Disappearing someone means you dont know why they disappeared. You guess, and so your own fears will give you the FUD needed to avoid pissing off the authorities. It's a more efficient and effective tactic.
  - neocodesoftware 8y ago
    the proverb is kill rooster, scare monkey now everyone else eager to pay back
  - A2017U1 8y ago
    > convicting means pinning an exact crime The prosecution rate is over 99% in China. That's hardly a challenge.
    - shawnz 8y ago
      I don't think the parent is saying that it will be a challenge for them, just that it might reduce the chilling effect.
    - TheGrumpyBrit 8y ago
      But then everybody knows the exact crime to avoid. This way, you don't know what happened, you know something bad happened, but you don't know what, so you avoid breaking any laws to be on the safe side.
      - cr0sh 8y ago
        > but you don't know what, so you avoid breaking any laws to be on the safe side. If you don't know, then how can you know when you aren't breaking any laws? I mean - you could be doing everything "by the book" - but then they "make a law" that makes it illegal to do something which you were doing fine the day before, but they don't tell you about that law- then they haul you in... And seriously, nobody can really keep ahead of every law - even in western countries - it's all a sham, really; not even judges nor prosecutors are aware of all the laws. I don't even think legislators know them all. There's just way too many; at any point all of us are breaking some kind of law at some level. When nobody can honestly know the law, not even those who are supposed to interpret it, or create it, or prosecute it, it's lost its original purpose, and has become nothing more than a means of control thru fear. I guess in this way, the "west" isn't that much different than China, we just each pretend about different things.
ycombonator 8y ago
This is how Indian actors are paid, $100,000 on official contract and $12mm unofficially. The only difference is they grease the palms of all the politicians.
- sverige 8y ago
  Is there any reason to think that the palms of Chinese politicians are not being greased?

bookofjoe 8y ago

>Given the total lack of communication she is probably dead. Hardly. Quotes from OP: Since her release last October, Fan has consciously kept a low profile. (She and her agency declined to speak with VANITY FAIR for this story.) Her first post on social media after her public apology was an overt display of fealty to the Chinese government. On November 17, when a director made a pro-Taiwan comment at the Golden Horse Awards, Fan shared a pro-China post from the Communist youth league. “China,” she said, “cannot miss out on any inch.” Fan, for her part, appears to be quietly plotting a comeback. Throughout the crisis, her production company never shut its doors. “Of course she lost a lot of money,” said Fang, the producer. “But she’s not completely depressed.” Fang and Li, Fan’s best friend and frequent collaborator, have been discussing future projects for their favorite star. When I asked Li why she would risk casting Fan, she told me that the anguish Fan has gone through would become the well she draws from. “Nobody can be a better actress than her,” Li said. Not long ago, Fan had drinks with her friend Li, who told me that they discussed Fan’s ordeal. If the best art reflects its times, the two concluded, who better to cast as a lead than Fan Ye herself? Fan laughed at her luck. Perhaps there was an upside to becoming the world’s most celebrated missing person. “I worked so hard,” she told her friend, “and this is how I become famous.”

Cthulhu_ 8y ago

I think it's kinda weird to just make someone disappear, instead of convict them in public - make other rich Chinese nationals realize what the consequences for tax evasion are.

chii 8y ago
convicting means pinning an exact crime, with evidence, which implies that as long as you don't commit _this_ crime you're fine. Disappearing someone means you dont know why they disappeared. You guess, and so your own fears will give you the FUD needed to avoid pissing off the authorities. It's a more efficient and effective tactic.
- neocodesoftware 8y ago
  the proverb is kill rooster, scare monkey now everyone else eager to pay back
- A2017U1 8y ago
  > convicting means pinning an exact crime The prosecution rate is over 99% in China. That's hardly a challenge.
  - shawnz 8y ago
    I don't think the parent is saying that it will be a challenge for them, just that it might reduce the chilling effect.
  - TheGrumpyBrit 8y ago
    But then everybody knows the exact crime to avoid. This way, you don't know what happened, you know something bad happened, but you don't know what, so you avoid breaking any laws to be on the safe side.
    - cr0sh 8y ago
      > but you don't know what, so you avoid breaking any laws to be on the safe side. If you don't know, then how can you know when you aren't breaking any laws? I mean - you could be doing everything "by the book" - but then they "make a law" that makes it illegal to do something which you were doing fine the day before, but they don't tell you about that law- then they haul you in... And seriously, nobody can really keep ahead of every law - even in western countries - it's all a sham, really; not even judges nor prosecutors are aware of all the laws. I don't even think legislators know them all. There's just way too many; at any point all of us are breaking some kind of law at some level. When nobody can honestly know the law, not even those who are supposed to interpret it, or create it, or prosecute it, it's lost its original purpose, and has become nothing more than a means of control thru fear. I guess in this way, the "west" isn't that much different than China, we just each pretend about different things.

ycombonator 8y ago

This is how Indian actors are paid, $100,000 on official contract and $12mm unofficially. The only difference is they grease the palms of all the politicians.

sverige 8y ago
Is there any reason to think that the palms of Chinese politicians are not being greased?