Chinese-Canadian pop star Kris Wu sentenced to 13 years behind bars

Popular Chinese pop star Chris Wu has been sentenced to 13 years in jail after a Beijing court determined that he was guilty of sexual offenses, including rape. In an official Weibo account announced that on November 25th, the Beijing Chaoyang court convicted Wu of exploiting three drunken women at his home between November 2020 and December 2020. The court also stated that the 32-year-old star coordinated two intoxicated women to participate in promiscuous activities at his home in July 2018 with the help of others. The popular singer, whose Chinese name is Wu Yifan, will be deported after serving his sentence. Wu was arrested in July 2021 after 18-year-old student Du Meizhu alleged that he had used career opportunities to lure young women such as her to his home, plied them with alcohol, and forced himself on them. She said the incident happened when she was 17 and believed she was not the only underage victim. Du said after that day, Wu tricked her into thinking they were lovers but shunned her shortly afterward, leaving her in despair. Her story burst onto the internet, as Wu, at the time, had millions of fans both in the mainland and overseas. According to the New York Times, Chinese authorities did not recognize the allegations as truthful, concluding that Du was looking for notoriety. Wu also denied the accusations, but his legal team requested a settlement in silence. Du exposed the deal after realizing it was a guilt-admission document. She said part of the deal included Wu paying her 2 million yuan over $275,000. Wu requested to transfer Du 3 million yuan, and she sent him back 1 million yuan due to tax issues. Du believed had she followed suit, they would have evidence that she was the transferee and she would, in turn, be put to jail. As public outrage mounted, Wu was eventually detained. Xinhuan Yu's agency reported that Wu must also pay 600 million yuan over $83 million for concealing personal income, tax evasion, and other related offenses. Upon Wu's conviction, Du wrote on Weibo, This day has finally arrived. The sentencing marks a rare uptick in China's ailing hashtag MeToo movement, where allegations against top Chinese elites would rarely achieve any result for victims.