Film director Wang Quan'an and his actress wife Zhang Yuqi attend a film festival in Los Angeles in 2012. [Photo/Xinhua]

Actor, singer Chan officially arrested on drug charge

Chinese celebrities caught with drugs

The prostitution scandal that has embroiled Golden Bear-winning director Wang Quan'an may cast a long shadow over the country's entertainment industry, insiders say.

The 48-year-old, who won the top award in Berlin in 2007 with Tu'ya's Marriage, was alleXgedly caught by police having sex with a 31-year-old suspected sex worker from Heilongjiang province on Sept 10 in a high-end downtown Beijing apartment, according to a Beijing Public Security Bureau statement.

The statement also alleges Wang, who's from Shaanxi province, paid three women, including an 18-year-old, for sexual services from Sept 8 to 10.

As millions of Chinese netizens expressed sympathy for Wang's wife－actress Zhang Yuqi, who was attending the New York Fashion Week at the time－a Wednesday report by the Chengdu Economic Daily claimed Wang may be asked to leave the China Film Director's Guild. The guild is a nonprofit industry association of utmost esteem.

The report said the CFDG recently re-iterated a proposal discouraging the employment of people in the industry who've been involved in scandals. The proposal, initiated by the CFDG and four comparable-level film industry associations, urges celebrities to "behave" and serve as role models.