Chinese Actress Says Forced to Spy on Foreign Boyfriends

UPDATE ( Aug. 19): Chinese actress Shao Xiaoshan, even though a regular Sina Weibo user, hasn't made any Weibo posts ever since Aug. 2.

CHINESE ACTRESS SHAO Xiaoshan has been looking for a foreign boyfriend for years, an act that has offended many Chinese men.

Yet little did anyone know that she has been in fact trying to escape from a mission for the Chinese communist regime—at least that's what she revealed through her social media accounts.

The 31-year-old Shao, who rose to fame by being Chinese mega-star Zhang Ziyi's body double in The Banquet (2006), made a slew of microblog posts late Sunday evening, recounting her alleged experience as an unpaid special agent for obtaining Western intelligence through dating children of foreign diplomats and her efforts in finding a foreign boyfriend who could get her out of China.

Shao posted on Sina Weibo, a Chinese equivalent of Twitter: 

Since my life in China is like living hell anyway, I am going to speak up today: When I was dating the son of French ambassador (Hervé Ladsous) in 2007, a taxi driver who was a Chinese spy told me to control the son! … The embassies of the United States, France, Britain, and Italy, shouldn't you pay attention to me?

I had kept this to myself for many years, but now I'm just going to throw caution to the wind! … I, Shao Xiaoshan, kept telling the media that I won't marry a Chinese man. It isn't because I only love Western men, but because in China, even my personal security is threatened!! Back then, when I was dating the son of the French ambassador, I was severely persecuted since I didn't want to harm him. Today, I am dating a man from the Dutch embassy, are you going to try to get me to harm him too?

I have been monitored [by the regime] since I was 17, and now my days in China are even worse than that of a ghost!

The Chinese government hasn't paid me in so many years! yet If I don't obey, they would kill me! Foreign governments, please consider [taking me]: I am willing to serve whoever that can ensure my safety and warmth. … After writing these microblog posts, I would be sent to the 261 Military Mental Hospital and prison, I……only don't want to die without anyone knowing why I died.

With over 133,000 followers on Sina Weibo and 233,000 on Tencent Weibo, the two websites where she made her posts, her words were quickly disseminated online.

One of her dozens of posts were reposted over 1,000 times and commented on 300 times just 18 minutes after she made them.

Yet the sensation was killed as fast as it was created.

All the posts related to the alleged espionage have been deleted from Sina Weibo, and even a search of her name has been banned from Sina Weibo, a Chinese service that often sees its posts that are critical of the communist regime removed.

Katie_Meow (katie_喵了个咪的), a Chinese netizen who reposted Shao's post earlier, said:

All the microblog posts that I reposted from you have been deleted. I saw that many of your microblog posts have been deleted as well.

Shao, who is an active user of Weibo, hasn't made another post ever since.

While it is hard to confirm whether what she wrote was true or not, Shao, unlike most actresses in mainland China, has a history of making posts that bother the Chinese regime. 

Shao tweeted in April:

I like the United States, human rights, religious freedom, democracy, freedom of speech,

Another post on the same day said that she loves the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader whom the Chinese regime has called a separatist and a politician in disguise.

While a Chinese actress posting about her espionage history is uncommon in China, Chinese espionage cases—especially those involving close personal relationships—are common.

A former leader of the 1989 Tiananment student movement has recently accused his wife of being a spy for the Chinese regime. Liu Gang, who lives in exile in the United States, said his wife's mission was to spy on the overseas Chinese democracy movement.

The FBI has estimated that up to 3,200 Chinese front companies are operating in the United States to gather intelligence about the U.S. government and American companies. Just between March 2008 and August 2010, the U.S. Justice Department has convicted 44 Chinese spies in 26 cases. Almost all of them are now serving time in federal prisons.