Kris Wu, a 30-year-old celebrity, is the most prominent figure in China to be held over #MeToo allegations.<\/b>
\nThe police in Beijing said Saturday they had detained Kris Wu, a popular Canadian Chinese singer, on suspicion of rape amid a # MeToo controversy that has set off outrage in China. The police did not provide details of their investigation into Mr. Wu. But it comes several weeks after an 18-year-old university student in Beijing accused him of enticing young women like herself with the promise of career opportunities, then pressuring them into having sex. Known in China as Wu Yifan, Mr. Wu,30, is the most prominent figure in China to be detained over #MeToo allegations. He rose to fame as a member of the Korean pop band EXO, then started a successful solo career as a model, actor and singer. Though he denied the allegations when they first surfaced, they set off an uproar that led at least a dozen companies, including Bulgari, Louis Vuitton and Porsche, to sever ties with the singer. The Chaoyang District branch of the Beijing police said in a statement on social media on Saturday night that it had been looking into accusations posted online that Mr. Wu \u201crepeatedly deceived young women into sexual relations.\u201d It said that Mr. Wu had been detained while the criminal investigation continued. Mr. Wu\u2019s accuser, Du Meizhu, has said publicly that when she first met Mr. Wu in December last year, she was taken by the singer\u2019s agent to his home in Beijing for work-related discussions. She said that she was pressured to drink cocktails until she passed out, and later found herself in his bed. They dated until March, according to her account of the events, when he stopped responding to her calls and messages. She has also said she believed that he targeted other young women. Mr. Wu\u2019s lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Ms. Du could not be reached. It was not immediately clear if the police were specifically investigating Ms. Du\u2019s claims. In a statement in July, the police had released what appeared to be preliminary findings about Ms. Du\u2019s allegations. The police had said Ms. Du had hyped her story \u201cto enhance her online popularity,\u201d an assessment that was criticized by her supporters as victim shaming. The outpouring of support for Ms. Du was a sign that the country\u2019s nascent #MeToo movement continues to grow despite the government\u2019s strict limits on activism and dissent. After Ms. Du spoke out, her supporters flooded the social media pages of several brands, threatening boycotts if they did not drop their partnerships with Mr. Wu, a campaign that quickly forced the companies to distance themselves from him. The accusations have triggered a heated debate on issues like victim-shaming, consent and abuse of power in the workplace \u2014 concepts that had rarely featured in mainstream discussions before the #MeToo movement went global. The authorities in China often discourage women from filing sexual misconduct complaints, and sexual assault or harassment survivors are frequently shamed and even sued for defamation. Censorship and limits on dissent have also stymied efforts among feminist activists to organize, even as trolls are given cover to spew abuse. Yet the high-profile nature of the controversy made Ms. Du\u2019s allegations impossible to ignore for Chinese authorities, who are always on the lookout for what they deem to be potential sources of social unrest. The police announcement, posted on the country\u2019s popular Weibo social media platform, immediately started trending, drawing more than six million likes. Lu Pin, a New York-based feminist activist, said the detention of Mr. Wu was a major step forward for the #MeToo movement in China. \u201cRegardless of what the motivation of the police may have been, just the fact that he was detained is huge,\u201d Ms. Lu said. \u201cFor the last three years, a number of prominent figures have faced #MeToo accusations but nothing ever happened to them,\u201d Ms. Lu said. \u201cNow with Wu Yifan, #MeToo has finally taken down someone with real power in China \u2014 it has shown that no matter how powerful you are, rape is not acceptable.\u201d The detention of Mr. Wu comes amid a broader government crackdown on the entertainment industry. In recent years, Chinese authorities have moved aggressively to clean up the industrywide problem of tax evasion and to cap salaries for the country\u2019s biggest movie stars. In June, the country\u2019s internet watchdog began a crackdown on what it called the country\u2019s \u201cchaotic\u201d online celebrity fan clubs, which the government has come to see as an increasing source of volatility in public opinion. The People\u2019s Daily, the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party, depicted Mr. Wu\u2019s detention as a warning to celebrities that neither fame nor a foreign citizenship would shield them from the law. \u201cA foreign nationality is not a talisman. No matter how famous one is, there is no immunity,\u201d the propaganda outlet wrote. \u201cRemember: The higher the popularity, the more you must be self-disciplined, the more popular you are, the more you must abide by the law.\u201d<\/p>\n