Edison Chen photo scandal
Encyclopedia
Edison Chen
Edison Koon-Hei Chen is a Hong Kong film actor, Cantopop singer, Hong Kong hip hop rapper, model, record producer, fashion designer, and a pop icon. Chen is also the founder of CLOT Inc., and the CEO of Clot Media Division Limited...
with various women, including actresses Gillian Chung
Gillian Chung
Gillian Chung is a Hong Kong based singer and actress. She is a member of Cantopop group Twins, along with Charlene Choi.-Early life:...
, Bobo Chan
Bobo Chan
Bobo Chan Man-Woon is a former Hong Kong singer and model. She was also an actress in several movies and TV-series.-Career:Bobo's first movie role was in 1999's Tempting Heart. In 2001, she debut her first CD, titled Shine. Between 2003-2005, she joined TVB and was featured in four of their...
, Rachel Ngan and Cecilia Cheung
Cecilia Cheung
Cecilia Cheung Pak-Chi is a Hong Kong actress and cantopop singer. She is the ex-wife of Nicholas Tse, thus being the daughter-in-law of Patrick Tse and Deborah Lee. She and Nicholas have two sons, Lucas and Quintus Tse...
. The scandal shook the Hong Kong entertainment industry in early 2008 and received high profile media attention locally and around the world. Many local newspapers headlined the story consecutively during the first fortnight of February 2008, relegating coverage of the 2008 Chinese winter storms
2008 Chinese winter storms
The 2008 Chinese winter storms（2008年中国雪灾、2008年中国南方雪灾）are a series of winter storm events that affected large portions of southern and central China starting on 25 January 2008 until 6 February 2008. The systems affected most of the area with heavy snows, ice and cold temperatures causing extensive...
to secondary prominence during Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year – often called Chinese Lunar New Year although it actually is lunisolar – is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is an all East and South-East-Asia celebration...
.
The Hong Kong police enlisted the assistance of Interpol
Interpol
Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
to stem the spread of the photographs. Ten people were arrested in connection with the distribution of the photographs. A computer technician was convicted of three counts of obtaining access to a computer with dishonest intent, and received a custodial sentence of eight and a half months.
The police crackdown raised questions over violations of the privacy and free speech rights of Internet users. The manner in which actors, their management, and the police handled the situation, in turn, made those arrested into heroes for some Internet users.
Chen admitted being the author and copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
owner of most of the photographs, and stated that the private photographs had been stolen and published illegally without his consent
Consent
Consent refers to the provision of approval or agreement, particularly and especially after thoughtful consideration.- Types of consent :*Implied consent is a controversial form of consent which is not expressly granted by a person, but rather inferred from a person's actions and the facts and...
. He made a public apology, especially to the women involved, and also announced that he would "step away indefinitely" from the Hong Kong entertainment industry.
History
PowerBook
The PowerBook was a line of Macintosh laptop computers that was designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1991 to 2006. During its lifetime, the PowerBook went through several major revisions and redesigns, often being the first to incorporate features that would later become...
personal computer, a photograph of which he published on his blog. It may have come from eLite Multimedia, a computer shop in Hong Kong's Central district
Central, Hong Kong
Central is the central business district of Hong Kong. It is located in Central and Western District, on the north shore of Hong Kong Island, across Victoria Harbour from Tsim Sha Tsui, the southernmost point of Kowloon Peninsula...
. According to the police, Chen's "Cotton-candy Mac" computer was sent in for repairs, and an estimated 1,300 intimate photographs of Chen and numerous female celebrities may have been accessed and secretly copied by one or more of the shop's employees. According to Chen, the image files were deleted before the computer was taken in for repairs.
Chen's photographs were reportedly made some time between 2003 and 2006. One close friend indicated that Chen liked to take photographs during intimate moments with his sexual partners, of whom 14 were celebrities, and privately showed these to a select group of close friends.
Unfolding
The first photograph, depicting Chen and Gillian ChungGillian Chung
Gillian Chung is a Hong Kong based singer and actress. She is a member of Cantopop group Twins, along with Charlene Choi.-Early life:...
, was posted on the Hong Kong Discuss Forum
Hong Kong Discuss Forum
The Hong Kong Discuss Forum is a major Internet forum based in Hong Kong. As of 2010, it is the 5th most frequently visited website in Hong Kong.-HK161:...
at approximately 8:30 p.m. on 27 January 2008. Although the original post was deleted after a few hours, some visitors forwarded the image to other major forums in Hong Kong such as Uwants and HKGolden. Chung's management agency, Emperor Entertainment Group
Emperor Entertainment Group
Emperor Entertainment Group is one of the largest entertainment groups in Hong Kong founded by Albert Yeung Sau-Shing in and established in Wan Chai in 1986, along with Music Icon Entertainment Limited and Emperor Motion Picture Group, EEG operates under the major conglomerate Emperor Multimedia...
(EEG), immediately challenged its authenticity, and filed a police report.
The following day, a second explicit photograph of Chen, with another starlet, appeared on the Internet. After an emergency meeting that evening at EEG, the company declared that it would pursue the publisher of the image for this "irresponsible" and "malicious act". Gillian Chung was reportedly very distraught, had taken a leave of absence, and would not comment on the matter. Shaped by the denials, the initial media consensus was that the photographs were hoaxes. Nevertheless, the story became the headline of major local Hong Kong newspapers.
At 12:30 p.m. on 29 January, a higher resolution photograph appeared on the Internet. Journals noted the uncanny resemblance to Cecilia Cheung
Cecilia Cheung
Cecilia Cheung Pak-Chi is a Hong Kong actress and cantopop singer. She is the ex-wife of Nicholas Tse, thus being the daughter-in-law of Patrick Tse and Deborah Lee. She and Nicholas have two sons, Lucas and Quintus Tse...
, especially her distinctive tattoo set. The photographs became the talk of the town, and local discussion forums
Internet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
became saturated. A low-resolution sequence (photos 4 to 7) of Chen with Chung appeared at 3 p.m.; a nude photograph of Cecilia Cheung appeared at 6 p.m. Journals established with known video footage that the photographs were taken inside Chen's residence. Nevertheless, Cheung's solicitors denounced the upload as a "malicious, immoral and irresponsible act".
China News Service (CNS) reported that more than 100 police officers had been sent to investigate the case, although Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime) Vincent Wong Fook-chuen later declared that the investigating team consisted of 19 officers from the Commercial Crime Bureau. The police and photographic experts, who examined the images involving the first three female celebrities, said the photos were unlikely to have been composites.
The Hong Kong police moved on all Internet service provider
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
s to stamp out all local traces of the as yet unclassified "offensive material". The police met with more than 200 people responsible for major Hong Kong Web sites and BBS communities to urge them to delete the pictures on appearance "as they have the responsibility to stop crimes". Related discussion threads were progressively deleted. The police ordered several locally registered web sites and BBS management firms to submit information about their clients, and had retrieved the IP address
IP address
An Internet Protocol address is a numerical label assigned to each device participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing...
es of more than 30 Internet users who allegedly posted photographs.
After the exposure of the eighth photograph, Chen quietly left Hong Kong and flew to Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
to be with his girlfriend Vincy Yeung (楊永晴). On 4 February 2008, Chen released a 90-second video clip in English in which he apologised to those who may have been affected by the posting of photographs, without commenting on the authenticity of the photos.
On 6 February, a forum user leaked hundreds more photographs in defiance of the police. The uploader, dubbed by the public as "Kira", with reference to the protagonist in the manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
"Death Note
Death Note
is a manga created by writer Tsugumi Ohba and manga artist Takeshi Obata. The main character is Light Yagami, a high school student who discovers a supernatural notebook, the "Death Note", dropped on Earth by a god of death, or a shinigami, named Ryuk...
", stated he was not in Hong Kong, and promised to release a 32-minute video the next day. Two days later, three pictures of a young woman showering appeared on the Internet. The subject was rapidly identified as 18-year-old Vincy Yeung, Chen's girlfriend and niece of Albert Yeung
Albert Yeung
Albert Yeung , born in 1944 with ancestry in Chaozhou, Guangdong, China, is a well known entrepreneur in Hong Kong. He is now the Chairman of Emperor Group.-Early years:...
, chairman of EEG. The police confirmed these three images were part of the batch of 1,300 photographs known to them. Having said there were only six participants, the police explained the appearance of a seventh, saying that her photographs had been erroneously grouped with one of the other females.
Gillian Chung was the first starlet to make a public appearance. After greeting fans at a New Year celebration on 11 February 2008, she delivered a brief statement to the press in which she apologised for the hurt caused to those around her by her silliness and naivety, saying that she "had now grown up". Emperor sought closure by stating that neither it nor any of its artists would be making any further statement about the incident. The press conference drew mixed response from the media and the public – some praised her courage in facing the public while others complained of her insincerity and her refusal to face the issue squarely. An Apple Daily commentary was particularly scathing about the hypocrisy of Chung and of her management company for only obliquely hinting at her "licentiousness". On 14 February, two new nude photographs surfaced. One photograph featured an unidentified woman fellating
Fellatio
Fellatio is an act of oral stimulation of a male's penis by a sexual partner. It involves the stimulation of the penis by the use of the mouth, tongue, or throat. The person who performs fellatio can be referred to as the giving partner, and the other person is the receiving partner...
Chen, and another showed Rachel Ngan lying on a bed.
Chen returned to Hong Kong on 21 February, and held a press conference during which he asked for forgiveness and announced his departure from the Hong Kong entertainment industry "indefinitely". Chen confirmed that the photographs belonged to him and were private, and stated that they were obtained without his consent and then made public. His lawyer emphasised that reproduction whether in whole or in part would constitute copyright infringement
Copyright infringement
Copyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...
.
On 26 February, as Chen entered his sixth consecutive day of police questioning, Sing Tao Daily
Sing Tao Daily
The Sing Tao Daily is Hong Kong's second largest Chinese language newspaper. It is owned by Sing Tao News Corporation Limited, of which Charles Ho Tsu Kwok is the chairman. Its English language sister paper is The Standard...
revealed that a cache of computer disks and other storage devices containing in excess of 10,000 images were found from the search of Chen's residence. Police leaked news that five "new" celebrities had been identified by police, who gave only cryptic descriptions. Investigations were apparently hampered by Chen's caution, and by the lack of cooperation of the "new" female victims: some had left town, and one had already publicly denied her involvement. While the police suspected hidden motives, Chen denied that he had been blackmailed.
Statistics
This table breaks down the photographs by subject:| Person Involved | Names per source | Photo count as of 10 Feb 2008 |
|---|---|---|
| Cecilia Cheung Pak-chi Cecilia Cheung Cecilia Cheung Pak-Chi is a Hong Kong actress and cantopop singer. She is the ex-wife of Nicholas Tse, thus being the daughter-in-law of Patrick Tse and Deborah Lee. She and Nicholas have two sons, Lucas and Quintus Tse... |
张栢芝 | 143 |
| Bobo Chan Man-woon Bobo Chan Bobo Chan Man-Woon is a former Hong Kong singer and model. She was also an actress in several movies and TV-series.-Career:Bobo's first movie role was in 1999's Tempting Heart. In 2001, she debut her first CD, titled Shine. Between 2003-2005, she joined TVB and was featured in four of their... |
陈文媛 | 116 |
| Gillian Chung Yan-tung | 钟欣桐 | 104 |
| Candice Chan Si-wai | 陈思慧 | 48 |
| Mandy Chen Yu-ju | 陈育嬬 | 40 |
| Rachel Ngan Wing-sze | 颜颖思 | 13 |
| Vincy Yeung Wing-ching | 杨永晴 | 3 |
| Total | 465 | |
Hong Kong
Arraignment
Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal complaint in the presence of the defendant to inform the defendant of the charges against him or her. In response to arraignment, the accused is expected to enter a plea...
but denied bail because he was suspected of blackmailing the actor and actresses. The case would reconvene eight weeks later, and Chung Yik-tin was destined to spend Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year – often called Chinese Lunar New Year although it actually is lunisolar – is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is an all East and South-East-Asia celebration...
in detention. After investigating the connection between the suspect and artists, the police were satisfied that blackmail was not involved. Following the furore at the police that the photograph allegedly posted by Chung was later classified as "indecent", Chung was unconditionally released from detention on 15 February, and charges against him were dropped.
On 2 February, police arrested four men and two women in connection with the distribution of the photographs. Of the six, three men and a woman were released on HK$
Hong Kong dollar
The Hong Kong dollar is the currency of the jurisdiction. It is the eighth most traded currency in the world. In English, it is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively HK$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...
20,000 bail and ordered to report back to the police in eight weeks. The police revealed that during 2007, Edison Chen brought his computer to a shop for repairs. Employees who discovered over 1,300 intimate photographs may have secretly copied these files.
On 4 February, a 29-year-old man became the eighth person to be detained in connection with the Internet posting of nude photos. On the same day, 23-year-old Sze Ho-Chun (史可雋) was arrested and charged with "dishonest use of computers with criminal intent", which has a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment. The man appeared in Eastern Court on 5 February, where he denied the charge and was released on $50,000 bail. The case was adjourned to 22 February.
Assistant Commissioner Wong said the source of the pictures had been traced, but he would not confirm reports stating that they had been taken from Chen's computer. He added that the authenticity of the photographs was no longer in question. Wong also said of the six women found in the photographs, four were local celebrities and two were unknown to the police. None of the women were named. Wong was certain that no overseas artists were involved. He said that it was not a crime to transfer the pictures to friends, but those who had posted the images to Internet web pages could be in breach of the Hong Kong law. His statement has prompted some people to solicit for or send the picture files to their "friends" en masse by email.
On 5 February, as another of the suspects was released on $50,000 bail, six more related photographs surfaced on the Internet. In the early hours on Chinese New Year's Eve, several hundred more photographs appeared on the Internet; there were two new faces.
The police arrested a tenth person in connection with the case on 10 February. Kwok Chun-wai, a 24-year-old logistics clerk, was charged with distribution of pornography. He had allegedly posted the link to a local discussion forum after uploading a compressed file containing over a hundred images to a site in Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
. Kwok was released on $10,000 bail and was required to report to the police three times a week. He entered a guilty plea to three counts of publishing an obscene article in July. On 24 July 2008, he was sentenced to two months in prison, suspended for two years.
Mainland China
Web sites on the mainland are usually more sensitive to political issues than to pornography, and for several weeks major sites such as BaiduBaidu
Baidu, Inc. , simply known as Baidu and incorporated on January 18, 2000, is a Chinese web services company headquartered in the Baidu Campus in Haidian District, Beijing, People's Republic of China....
permitted the images to be disseminated. During this time, photographs were also posted on the popular mainland China chat room, Tianya Club
Tianya Club
Tianya Club is an Internet forum in China; currently it is the 12th most visited site in the People's Republic of China and 72nd overall. It was founded on 14 February 1999.It provides BBS, blog, microblog and photo album services....
, and had been viewed nearly 20 million times a day. Around 20 February however, mainland sites took action to prevent access to the photos.
A crackdown began in mainland China on the manufacturing, selling and spreading the CD-ROMs of the celebrity photos, which sold "like hotcakes". Police arrested 10 people suspected of the production in Shenzhen
Shenzhen
Shenzhen is a major city in the south of Southern China's Guangdong Province, situated immediately north of Hong Kong. The area became China's first—and one of the most successful—Special Economic Zones...
. Police in Beijing announced on 21 February that it would act to stop the circulation of the photographs. Officials declared that showing the photos to friends or posting them on blogs or online forums, even without profit motive, could be punishable by detention for up to 15 days; transmission of more than 200 of the photos as a package on the internet would be met with criminal prosecution.
Taiwan
A TaiwanTaiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
ese man aged 24, Huang Wei-lun, was arrested in Taipei County
Taipei County
New Taipei City is the most populous city of Taiwan. The area includes a substantial stretch of Taiwan's northern coastline and surrounds the Taipei Basin...
on suspicion of posting the explicit photos and videos in his blog and instructing net surfers how to download the images. Police in Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung is a city located in southwestern Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait on the west. Kaohsiung, officially named Kaohsiung City, is divided into thirty-eight districts. The city is one of five special municipalities of the Republic of China...
warned of the two-year penalty for selling pornographic CDs, and raided shops and arcades where discs of Edison Chen's photographs have been selling slowly, for TWD100. One observer remarked that young people did not buy discs as they can get the photographs easily from the internet.
Freedom of speech
On 2 February, Commissioner of Police Tang King ShingTang King Shing
Tang King-shing, PMSM, PDSM was the Commissioner of the Hong Kong Police force until 11th January 2011.-Biography:Tang joined the Royal Hong Kong Police in 1976 as a Probationary Inspector...
warned that anyone with the pictures on their computer could be in breach of the law, even if there was no record of distribution. This led to an immediate objection by lawmaker "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung
Leung Kwok-hung
Leung Kwok-hung , also known as Long Hair , is a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong , a founding member of the League of Social Democrats and a democratic political activist.-Biography:Leung is a self-proclaimed Trotskyist and a member of April Fifth Action, a radical socialist...
, who led a protest of about two dozen people outside police headquarters in Wan Chai
Wan Chai
Wan Chai is a metropolitan area situated at the western part of the Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. Its other boundaries are Canal Road to the east, Arsenal Street to the west and Bowen Road to the south. The area north of Gloucester Road is often called...
. They accused the police of sowing confusion and creating an atmosphere of "white terror
White Terror
White Terror is the violence carried out by reactionary groups as part of a counter-revolution. In particular, during the 20th century, in several countries the term White Terror was applied to acts of violence against real or suspected socialists and communists.-Historical origin: the French...
" among netizen
Netizen
The term Netizen is a portmanteau of the English words internet and citizen. It is defined as an entity or person actively involved in online communities and a user of the internet, especially an avid one. The term can also imply an interest in improving the internet, especially in regard to open...
s. Leung urged Commissioner Tang to clarify whether merely keeping the pictures violated the law. Some opinions disagree on distributing the photos.
Selective application of the law
The police's selectiveness in this case, as compared with previous cases of pornography distribution on the Internet, was also the focus of public attention. Regina IpRegina Ip
Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, GBS JP is a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong , as well as the co-founder and current chairwoman of the New People's Party and Savantas Policy Institute....
said that police would commonly apply the law selectively, citing the difficulty of taking action against every person who had overstayed in Hong Kong. Similarly, the local Chairman of the Internet Society
Internet Society
The Internet Society or ISOC is an international, nonprofit organization founded during 1992 to provide direction in Internet related standards, education, and policy...
said that it would not be practical for the police to ticket every traffic offender.
The denial of bail for Chung Yik-tin sparked controversy over the subjective application of the law. Legislator Ronny Tong
Ronny Tong
Ronny Tong Ka-wah QC, SC is a Senior Counsel and current member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong , representing the New Territories East constituency. He is also a member of the Civic Party Executive Committee....
accused the police of humiliating a suspect by their excessively hasty actions.
Commentary in the newspaper Ming Pao also remarked on the widespread outrage about the perceived selective application of legal principles – that a person charged with an apparently minor offense being denied bail whilst two others, unnamed, with allegedly heavier involvement in the spread of the photographs were allowed out on bail. A commentary in Apple Daily decried the "clear intimidation of netizens" by the police, and referred to the "hypocrisy in law enforcement" for arresting people without bringing the alleged main source and victim (Chen) for interrogation.
Definition of "obscenity"
While publishing an "obscene" (淫褻) article carries a maximum sentence of 3 years, an "indecent" (不雅) article only carries a maximum sentence of 12 months. Ming Pao revealed on 14 February that it had received interim classification from the Obscene Articles Tribunal (OAT) relating to five photographs it had submitted for opinion. Three of these photographs were classified as "indecent" while two were considered "obscene". The only photograph which was in circulation on 27 January, allegedly posted by Chung Yik-tin, was "indecent". Thus, the journal raised the question that Chung may have been charged with a wrong offense. Also, the law applies only after OAT's classification. Since the police arrested and charged Chung before classification, some viewed the arrest as unlawful. An Assistant Professor at the University of Hong Kong questioned whether an amended charge of "Publishing an Indecent Article" applied to photographs uploaded onto the Internet.Impact
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
,
MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
,
the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, Le Figaro
Le Figaro
Le Figaro is a French daily newspaper founded in 1826 and published in Paris. It is one of three French newspapers of record, with Le Monde and Libération, and is the oldest newspaper in France. It is also the second-largest national newspaper in France after Le Parisien and before Le Monde, but...
, Le Monde
Le Monde
Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
and
Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...
.
Police
On 3 February, a small group led by Leung Kwok-hungLeung Kwok-hung
Leung Kwok-hung , also known as Long Hair , is a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong , a founding member of the League of Social Democrats and a democratic political activist.-Biography:Leung is a self-proclaimed Trotskyist and a member of April Fifth Action, a radical socialist...
protested the abuse of power by the police. One week later, there was a larger protest demonstrated against alleged "discriminatory" law enforcement against Internet users. The involvement of local celebrities led to complaints that the wave of arrests were indicative of a legal double standard: protesters claimed that the police failed to investigate other cases of nude photos being published without their subject's permission. Approximately 300 Internet users marched from Victoria Park
Victoria Park, Hong Kong
Victoria Park is a public park in Hong Kong, named after Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. It is located in Causeway Bay, on the north of Hong Kong Island, between Causeway Bay and Tin Hau MTR stations...
to police headquarters in Wan Chai
Wan Chai
Wan Chai is a metropolitan area situated at the western part of the Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. Its other boundaries are Canal Road to the east, Arsenal Street to the west and Bowen Road to the south. The area north of Gloucester Road is often called...
. They petitioned the police to apologize publicly, to release Chung Yik-tin, to stop "an abuse of power", and also demanded the resignation of Commissioner Tang. In the wake of the scandal, citizens also became more concerned about the integrity of the law. There was an increased resentment towards the Hong Kong Police following some highly publicised incidents of suspected police bias: citizens cited motoring incidents of Chief Inspector Cindy Kong and businessman Peter Lam
Peter Lam
Peter Lam Kin-ngok , son of industrialist tycoon Lim Por-yen and his second wife, U Po-chu, is the Chairman & CEO of Media Asia Entertainment Group.-2008 Speeding offense:...
in an attempt to show that, in Hong Kong, some were clearly more equal than others.
The police were widely criticised for their handling of the case: in a survey published by the SCMP, some 48 percent of people surveyed believed the police had created unnecessary fear among the Internet community, and a similar percentage were dissatisfied with the police handling of the case. However, Assistant Commissioner Wong insisted that they had "not departed from normal practices" and had "acted correctly under the laws".
Chen
On 5 February 2008, Chen was pulled from the upcoming Stephen FungStephen Fung
Stephen Fung Tak-Lun is a Hong Kong based actor, singer, model, writer and film director.-Biography:Fung's mother, Julie Sek Yin, was a famous Shaw Brothers actress...
movie Jump as a result of the scandal. On 10 February 2008, it was reported that credit card company Manhattan Titanium has withdrawn all advertisements featuring Chen. He was also filming a minor role as a sharp-dressed thug in The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight (film)
The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero film directed, produced and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film is part of Nolan's Batman film series and a sequel to 2005's Batman Begins...
, but his scene was cut, and his very brief cameo as a receptionist was shown instead. The LA Times reported that Pepsi China
Pepsi
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo...
, Standard Chartered Bank
Standard Chartered Bank
Standard Chartered PLC is a multinational financial services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom with operations in more than seventy countries...
, Samsung
Samsung
The Samsung Group is a South Korean multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea...
, Levi's and the Hong Kong Metro
MTR
Mass Transit Railway is the rapid transit railway system in Hong Kong. Originally opened in 1979, the system now includes 211.6 km of rail with 155 stations, including 86 railway stations and 69 light rail stops...
, had dropped or declined to renew ad campaigns involving Chen.
Upon his return to Hong Kong on 21 February, a hundred police officers were present throughout the press conference at the HITEC centre, and some citizens complained about the waste of manpower. The police argued that their strong presence was essential to maintain public order due to the great public and media interest in the case. The triads reportedly offered a HK$500,000 reward to anybody who hacked off Chen's hand. This contributed to fears for Chen's safety upon his return, and heavy police protection.
Gillian Chung
While Emperor declared that Gillian ChungGillian Chung
Gillian Chung is a Hong Kong based singer and actress. She is a member of Cantopop group Twins, along with Charlene Choi.-Early life:...
was on sick leave, fellow Twins
Twins (group)
Twins is a Hong Kong-based female Cantopop duo which was created in the summer of 2001 by Emperor Entertainment Group . Twins is made up of two girls, Charlene Choi Cheuk-Yin and Gillian Chung Yan-Tung. They were a popular group in Hong Kong and a top band in China. Their fanbase included Japan,...
member Charlene Choi
Charlene Choi
Charlene Choi is a Hong Kong based actress and singer. She is a member of Cantopop group Twins, along with Gillian Chung.-Biography:...
twice publicly denied rumours of suicide attempts by Chung — once was during the promotion of the film Kung Fu Dunk
Kung Fu Dunk
Kung Fu Dunk , also known by its former title Slam Dunk, is a 2008 Chinese-language live-action film. It was directed by Taiwanese director Chu Yin-Ping and filmed in Taiwan and mainland China...
. Hong Kong Disneyland Resort
Hong Kong Disneyland Resort
The Hong Kong Disneyland Resort is a resort built by the Government of Hong Kong and The Walt Disney Company in Hong Kong on reclaimed land beside Penny's Bay, at the northeastern tip of Lantau Island, approximately two kilometres from Discovery Bay...
dropped the use of a Twins music video for the celebration of the Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year – often called Chinese Lunar New Year although it actually is lunisolar – is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is an all East and South-East-Asia celebration...
because of Chung's involvement in the controversy. A new video featuring Taiwanese boyband Fahrenheit
Fahrenheit (Taiwanese band)
Fahrenheit is a Taiwanese boy band who has been active in Asia since 2005. The group debut with four members: Jiro Wang, Calvin Chen, Aaron Yan and Wu Chun. They are managed by Comic International Productions . The group's music is distributed by HIM International Music in Taiwan, by WOW Music in...
was selected as a replacement. Preparations for the Twins concerts in Hong Kong originally scheduled for 12–16 April postponed until September.
Chung's appearance at a charity programme on 17 February met with around 2,100 complaints to the Broadcasting Authority, 373 to TVB, and 202 to the Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority
Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority
Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority or TELA is the entertainment regulatory agency in Hong Kong under the HKSAR government.- Mission :...
(TELA). On 21 February the Broadcasting Authority decided that the complaints were outside its jurisdiction to consider, and passed all the correspondence received to TVB.
On 26 February 2008, the South China Morning Post, citing the Dalian Evening News, reported that Chung and Nicholas Tse
Nicholas Tse
Nicholas Tse is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter, actor and musician, and son of actor Patrick Tse. He is a member of the Emperor Entertainment Group...
(husband of Cecilia Cheung) would no longer perform at the Beijing Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
opening ceremony. Artistic Director, Zhang Yimou
Zhang Yimou
Zhang Yimou is a Chinese film director, producer, writer and actor, and former cinematographer. He is counted amongst the Fifth Generation of Chinese filmmakers, having made his directorial debut in 1987 with Red Sorghum....
, dropped them for having been tainted by the nude photos scandal. Their management had no comment. Nicholas Tse did appear at the closing ceremony, singing on stage alongside Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan, SBS, MBE is a Hong Kong actor, action choreographer, comedian, director, producer, martial artist, screenwriter, entrepreneur, singer and stunt performer. In his movies, he is known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons, and innovative stunts...
, Emil Chau
Wakin Chau
Wakin Chau is a Hong Kong singer and actor. Chau's popularity has spread throughout Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mainland China, and parts of Southeast Asia. He was known as Emil Chau through the 1980s and 1990s, and by 2000 he reverted to his given name Wakin...
, Andy Lau
Andy Lau
Andy Lau MH, JP is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer, actor, and film producer. Lau has been one of Hong Kong's most commercially successful film actors since the mid-1980s, performing in more than 160 films while maintaining a successful singing career at the same time...
, and others.
Twins announced its "temporary" dissolution in late June 2008, four months after Gillian was caught up in the scandal. Charlene said in July 2008 she was highly optimistic that they will reunite "some day". It was reported that Chung, under contract with Emperor Entertainment Group
Emperor Entertainment Group
Emperor Entertainment Group is one of the largest entertainment groups in Hong Kong founded by Albert Yeung Sau-Shing in and established in Wan Chai in 1986, along with Music Icon Entertainment Limited and Emperor Motion Picture Group, EEG operates under the major conglomerate Emperor Multimedia...
in 2008, did not receive any salary for the duration of the scandal, and even struggled to pay rent.
Other female stars who have worked with Chen
Jolin TsaiJolin Tsai
Jolin Tsai was born on 15 September 1980. She is a Taiwanese Golden Melody Award-winning Mandopop singer, dancer and actor. She is managed by Mars Entertainment Ltd .-Career:...
and Elva Hsiao
Elva Hsiao
Elva Hsiao, also known as Elva Siu, was born on 24 August 1979. She is a Taiwanese Mandopop singer.-Biography:She was educated at John Casablanca's College in Vancouver, British Columbia. She is fluent in both written and spoken English. While in Vancouver, she attended the New Talent Singing...
have collaborated with Chen on various projects and are rumoured love interests of Chen. Some images of a Tsai lookalike have previously appeared. In an effort to contain the damage to their reputations, both issued statements through their agents that they had "never been involved with Chen". They each issued "rewards" of TWD100 million defying anyone to come forward with legally authenticated photographs, and also threatened to seek full redress from any parties for "smears". Tsai urged the Hong Kong Police to publish a list of the persons involved, so that "innocents can be spared".
Media
The scandal has shocked the general public and ignited debate about sexual morality. The blanket coverage of the local press, their reporting style, and the appearance of photographs has also been met with public complaints to TELA. TELA suspected that at least two journals violated the Obscene Articles Ordinance, and sent copies of issue #936 of Next MagazineNext Magazine
Next Magazine is a Chinese weekly magazine, published in Hong Kong and Taiwan with different versions. Owned by Jimmy Lai , both magazines are the number one news magazines in both markets in terms of audited circulation and AC Nielsen reports...
and issue #531 of the Oriental Sunday magazine
Oriental Daily News
Oriental Daily News is a Chinese language newspaper in Hong Kong. It was established in 1969. It is one of the two newspapers published by the Oriental Press Group Limited , found by Ma's Family.-History:While Oriental Daily targets at a more mature reader group, Sun Daily Oriental Daily News is...
to the OAT for classification. The Tribunal returned an interim classification of "Class I", meaning the magazines were "neither obscene nor indecent", and TELA demanded a full public hearing to review its decision. The OAT, the method of selecting its adjudicators, and the Obscene Articles Ordinance, came under fire. It reportedly classified Michelangelo
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
's "David
David (Michelangelo)
David is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture created between 1501 and 1504, by the Italian artist Michelangelo. It is a marble statue of a standing male nude. The statue represents the Biblical hero David, a favoured subject in the art of Florence...
" as "indecent" by adhering rigidly to a definition.
The images reached China mostly through an image-sharing service on Baidu
Baidu
Baidu, Inc. , simply known as Baidu and incorporated on January 18, 2000, is a Chinese web services company headquartered in the Baidu Campus in Haidian District, Beijing, People's Republic of China....
(Tieba). Beijing Network News Council (BNNC) held a meeting on 18 February to discuss the "romantic pictures", and criticised Baidu for spreading the pictures. Other web sites that actively discouraged the photo distribution, namely Sohu
Sohu
Sohu.com, Inc. is a search engine company headquartered in the Sohu.com Internet Plaza in Haidian District, Beijing, People’s Republic of China. This company and its subsidiaries offer advertising, a search engine, on-line multiplayer gaming and other services. For the fiscal year ended December...
, Sina
Sina.com
SINA is an online media company for China and Chinese communities around the world. SINA operates four major business lines: Sina Weibo, SINA Mobile, SINA Online, and SINA.net. SINA has over 100 million registered users worldwide...
and Netease
NetEase
NetEase is a Chinese internet company that operates 163.com, a popular web portal which received over 546 million page views in June of 2005. The company has grown rapidly since its founding in June 1997, thanks in part to its investment in search engine technology and massively multiplayer...
, were praised by BNCC.
Chen's hearing
Although Chen agreed to cooperate with the authorities, he refused to return to Hong Kong to give evidence in the trial. A team of four lawyers and a magistrate were thus flown out to VancouverVancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
for a hearing beginning on 23 February 2009 at taxpayers' expense. Legislator Ronny Tong
Ronny Tong
Ronny Tong Ka-wah QC, SC is a Senior Counsel and current member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong , representing the New Territories East constituency. He is also a member of the Civic Party Executive Committee....
questioned the "extravagancy" of this hearing, and suggested there may be an easier and cheaper way to collect Chen's evidence.
During the hearing, which is governed by Hong Kong law, and is presided over by Supreme Court of British Columbia
Supreme Court of British Columbia
The Supreme Court of British Columbia is the superior trial court for the province of British Columbia. The BCSC hears civil and criminal law cases as well as appeals from the Provincial Court of British Columbia. Including supernumerary judges, there are presently 108 judges...
Justice Elaine Adair, with Hong Kong's Chief Magistrate
Chief Magistrate
Chief Magistrate is a generic designation for a public official whose office—individual or collegial—is the highest in his or her class, in either of the fundamental meanings of Magistrate : as a major political and administrative office , and/or as a judge Chief Magistrate is a generic designation...
Tong Man (唐文) as co-commissioner, Chen confirmed that Cecilia Cheung, Gillian Chung, Bobo Chan and Rachel Ngan were indeed involved. He testified that the photographs, taken from 2001 to 2006, were consensual, and were only shown to the women involved. He professed his "huge shock" at seeing the images on the Internet, citing that he had deleted the images before sending his computer in for repairs in summer of 2006.
Cecilia Cheung's reaction
Cable TV Hong Kong
Cable TV Hong Kong , previously known as Wharf Cable before October 1998, is owned and operated by i-CABLE Communications Limited...
on 27 February. She heavily criticised Chen for shedding crocodile tears
Crocodile tears
Crocodile tears are a false or insincere display of emotion such as a hypocrite crying fake tears of grief. The phrase gives its name to crocodile tears syndrome, an uncommon consequence of recovery from Bell's palsy where faulty regeneration of the facial nerve causes sufferers to shed tears...
, saying that instead of calling to apologise, he had not returned calls and switched off his telephone when the incident came to light last year. She accused him of hypocrisy in a bid to win the public's forgiveness while hurting others caught up in the scandal. She said that despite the rumours circulating at the time of a rift with her husband and in-laws, they had been most supportive.
Gillian Chung's reaction
Interviewed in an episode of TVB's Be My Guest in March 2009, Chung said that Chen was her greatest love, and let him take photos of them engaging in sex because she did not want to lose him.She reclused herself from public for more than a year following the incident and later apologised for hurting the people around her, especially to her long-time 'Twins' partner Choi. During the hiatus, she took classes in many areas which she hoped would serve her professionally. Chung said she had ruled out suicide during the ordeal, fearing that the problems would be passed onto people who cared about her if she died; she said her mother was supportive of her quitting the industry.
Death threat
On 12 March 2009, a threatening letter containing a bullet was delivered to a Cable TVCable TV Hong Kong
Cable TV Hong Kong , previously known as Wharf Cable before October 1998, is owned and operated by i-CABLE Communications Limited...
station mailbox. It is thought to have been sent from Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown is a city located in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is Pennsylvania's third most populous city, after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the 215th largest city in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 118,032 and is currently...
, though police did not rule out the possibility that the address was a fake. The broadcaster did not release the text of the threatening letter, written in English, but summarised the contents on its entertainment news report.
Secretary for Security
Secretary for Security
The Secretary for Security is the member of the Hong Kong Government in charge of the Security Bureau, which is responsible for public safety, security, and immigration matters....
Ambrose Lee
Ambrose Lee
Ambrose Lee Siu-kwong IDSM JP is Secretary for Security of the Hong Kong and a member of the Executive Council. He was appointed to his post on 4 August 2003, replacing Regina Ip-Background:...
said Hong Kong is governed by the rule of law and violent or intimidating activity will not be tolerated. Peter Lam
Peter Lam
Peter Lam Kin-ngok , son of industrialist tycoon Lim Por-yen and his second wife, U Po-chu, is the Chairman & CEO of Media Asia Entertainment Group.-2008 Speeding offense:...
former manager of Chen said that these threats violate the law, and people who break the law will be dealt with. He further added that Chen made some mistakes, but those mistakes were not worth death.
Conviction secured
Computer technician Sze Ho-chun was convicted on 13 May 2009 of three counts of obtaining access to a computer with dishonest intent, and received a custodial sentence of eight and a half months. However, there was no evidence that he uploaded the pictures to the Internet.See also
- 2002 East Week magazine kidnap incident
- 2003 Jade Solid Gold Top 10 award bribing