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 Chinese President Xi Jinping has vowed to go after corruption
and excess among the elite, a prime source of public discontent
as the gap between the poor and the wealthy continues to grow.
Actor and singer Jaycee Chan, 32, was arrested in Beijing after
testing positive for marijuana, police said on Tuesday, and
police found 100 grams of the drug at his home.
Police also arrested Taiwan movie star Ko Chen-tung, 23, after a
drug test found he used marijuana, Xinhua news agency said.
Chan and Ko were arrested in central Beijing after police
received a tip-off from residents, the state-backed Global Times
reported.
The use of drugs in China, particularly synthetic drugs like
methamphetamine, ketamine and ecstasy, has grown along with the
rise of a new urban class with greater disposable income.
Xi has called for a clean-up of the so-called "four practices"
of formalism, bureaucracy, hedonism and extravagance. He said in
June that China would "harshly crack down" on narcotics, state
media reported.
Jackie Chan's management company, M’Stones International Corp,
issued a statement on behalf of Jaycee saying it was standing by
him.
Drug-related crimes carry harsh penalties in China including
death or life imprisonment in serious cases.
Action and comedy star Jackie Chan, 60, served as a goodwill
spokesman for the China National Anti-Drug Committee in 2009,
state media reported, promoting anti-drug education.
China has detained more than 7,800 suspects on drug-related
charges this year, up 72 percent from a year earlier, Xinhua
reported.
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Foreign and Chinese patrons of Dos Kolegas, a popular Beijing bar
inside a drive-in movie theater, were spot-tested for drugs earlier
this month, according to media reports, resulting in several being
detained.
State media has frequently referred to drug use as a form of moral
corruption damaging society. China had successfully quelled the
spread of drugs, particularly opium, since the Communist Party took
power in 1949. But the past several years have seen a resurgence in
drug use.
Last week, a group of 42 entertainment management firms said they
had signed a deal with Beijing police that they would not work with
celebrities who used drugs, the state-owned Beijing News reported.
China has detained a string of other mostly B-list celebrities in
recent months on drug-related charges, cases that have been
publicized widely in both state and social media. They have included
movie and television stars, film directors and a prominent
screenwriter.
China executed two South Koreans convicted of smuggling
methamphetamines last week.
China's Ministry of Public Security told police across the country
to get tough on drugs, gambling and prostitution in February.
(Reporting by Megha Rajagopalan in Beijing and Twinnie Siu in Hong
Kong; Editing by Nick Macfie)
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