Latest news with #Nashi
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
A furious Chinese internet takes on privilege
This was supposed to be a breakout year for Chinese actress Nashi, with major roles in two blockbuster films and a highly anticipated TV drama. But then in June, the 35-year-old's star crashed as a furore over her exam scores from more than a decade ago sparked a backlash online – and eventually an official investigation into her academic record. The fallout was immediate. Her name was scrubbed from the credits of the drama, Lychees in Chang'an, and brands began cutting ties. She joins a growing list of people facing intense scrutiny in China over their privilege, with authorities launching investigations to appease public anger. In recent months, these viral scandals have hit two actresses, a Harvard graduate, and a doctor from a top Beijing hospital: all young women. They were accused of leveraging family connections to gain unfair advantage. "There's privilege every year, but this year there's more than ever," says one user on Weibo. Another wrote: "I would love to see more scandals like this. They are truly eye-opening." Frustrated with rising unemployment and a slowing economy, more and more young Chinese people feel that connections, or guanxi, pay off more than hard work, research shows. Nashi, for instance, was accused of using her actress mother's connections to enrol in a prestigious drama school. The programme, which her mother attended in the 1980s, was for ethnic Mongolian students like them. But then old interview clips resurfaced, in which she had said she didn't fulfil a key obligation - she went to study in Norway after graduating, instead of returning to work in Inner Mongolia as required by the programme. Speculation grew in early June, just as millions of high school seniors sat for the gruelling university entrance exam called Gaokao – the same exam that earned Nashi a spot at the drama school in 2008. Internet sleuths dug up the lowest scores for that year and suspected they were hers. Did she only go to the drama school because of her mum, they asked. It was a serious enough allegation that officials eventually stepped in to clarify that she had a much higher score. But it was not enough. The scandal that started it all Internet scandals are hardly unique to China but they have become a much-needed outlet – for anger, questions or just disappointment - in a tightly-censored society. Independent media is almost non-existent, leaving a lot of room for unchecked speculation and just plain rumours to spread rapidly through China's vast social media universe. And in some cases, users online have done their own investigations to verify allegations and unearth wrongdoing. That is what happened in April when two doctors - identified only by their surnames, Mr Xiao and Ms Dong – at a top Beijing hospital found themselves caught in a national storm over an alleged love affair. Mr Xiao's wife wrote a letter to his employer accusing him of favouring Ms Dong at work because the two were in a relationship. Among her many allegations was one that eventually cost him his job: she said he had left a sedated patient unattended on the operating table for 40 minutes to defend Ms Dong during a dispute with a nurse. It was a shocking episode but it quickly became so much more, as attention shifted to Ms Dong. An angry internet found out that she had finished studying to be a doctor in just four years, compared to the minimum of eight years. They accused her of cheating her way into an elite programme at China's most prestigious medical school, Peking Union Medical College, and plagiarising her graduation thesis. So intense was the backlash that the National Health Commission investigated and confirmed the allegations. Authorities revoked Ms Dong's licence to practise medicine and her degrees, hoping that would put an end to the controversy. Her clinical experience – which stretched across various specialties – also came under scrutiny, along with her family's political ties. But officials didn't respond to those accusations, raising further questions about a cover-up. "There were failures at every step. There's no way they'll dig any deeper," says a young doctor in Qingdao city who did not wish to share her name. It is not uncommon for people to use "guanxi" to help their children find jobs, she says, but what bothers her is the "deep-rooted unfairness". Having spent 11 years to become a resident like Ms Dong, she says she and her colleagues had never heard of the programme Ms Dong graduated from: "We were all shocked when we learnt about it. Clearly, it's not meant for ordinary people like us." This scandal particularly stung in hyper-competitive China where doctors work gruelling hours to earn a residency at top hospitals, or just to hold on to the jobs they do have. "Why is everything so unfair," she asked, echoing the disillusionment that was widespread in the comments online. "We work tirelessly treating patients with the utmost care - as if we were their grandchildren. Yet our life is far worse than [Ms] Dong's." It was this discontent that also drove the outrage against Harvard graduate Yurong Luanna Jiang in June. She drew attention after her speech at a graduation ceremony went viral the same day a US federal judge blocked US President Donald Trump's ban on foreign students at Harvard. When she shared the video online, she spoke of a difficult childhood, spent "drifting from place to place", and how studying hard had given her everything she now had. At first she was applauded for calling for unity in a polarised world - even some Chinese people commented saying they were touched by her words. But her social media posts soon irked the Chinese internet, which then began examining her resume and challenging her claim that hard work alone had led to her success. Her critics did not sympathise with her challenges – they found holes in every story and when she pushed back, they doubled down. She seemed to be yet another reminder of the narrowing opportunities that faced many young Chinese people. Sluggish post-Covid growth has brought layoffs, salary cuts and hiring freezes. Millions of graduates are struggling to find jobs, settling for lower-paid work or quitting the race altogether. One user on RedNote said she had been posting online in anger about these scandals only to find out hours later that a job offer she had accepted was retracted because the company had paused hiring. "Sure enough, the things you weren't born with, you'll never have in this lifetime," she wrote. 'You know what you know' This anger is not new. For some time now, the Chinese government has been censoring excessive displays of wealth by celebrities and influencers. But there are things that escape even their watchful eye, such as a pair of earrings. Scandal came for actress Huang Yang Tian Tian when a suspicious internet began speculating that earrings she had recently worn cost more than ¥2.3 million ($320,000; £237,100). They began questioning how she could afford them and discovered that her father was a civil servant-turned-businessman. Then they found out that he had worked in the local government in Ya'an, which was hit by a devastating earthquake in 2008. The controversy blew up with more questions about the family's wealth, and insinuations that they had profited from post-quake recovery funds. Authorities denied this and said Ms Huang's earrings, made of glass, were a cheap replica of a luxury pair. But not everyone believes them. "You know what you know," reads one Weibo comment with more than 1,000 likes. "Were the officials laughing?" another user asks. While the Chinese Communist Party is concerned enough to launch investigations, their swift response does not seem to be enough. "The loss of public trust didn't happen in a day or two," writes a user on RedNote. "It's the result of one investigation after another that insults our intelligence, one unresolved incident after another." Public frustration lingers as the Party tries to grapple with increasing discontent. And its message to young people is they should "eat bitterness", a Chinese phrase for enduring hardship, in the pursuit of "national rejuvenation". But online, one of the few places where Chinese people still speak openly, that message seems to be ringing hollow as people debate the advantages enjoyed by "the elites", often simply referred to as "they". "They are the reason why we worked so hard for three generations and are still in misery," a top-liked comment on Weibo reads. Another comment on RedNote, where no-one in particular is being accused, says: "We earn money one cent at a time, while they embezzle hundreds of millions - and then they teach us that hard work leads to prosperity and that labour is honourable." A restless Gen Z is reshaping the Chinese Dream Xi Jinping is worried about the economy - what do Chinese people think?
BBC News
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
A furious Chinese internet takes on privilege
This was supposed to be a breakout year for Chinese actress Nashi, with major roles in two blockbuster films and a highly anticipated TV then in June, the 35-year-old's star crashed as a furore over her exam scores from more than a decade ago sparked a backlash online – and eventually an official investigation into her academic fallout was immediate. Her name was scrubbed from the credits of the drama, Lychees in Chang'an, and brands began cutting joins a growing list of people facing intense scrutiny in China over their privilege, with authorities launching investigations to appease public recent months, these viral scandals have hit two actresses, a Harvard graduate, and a doctor from a top Beijing hospital: all young women. They were accused of leveraging family connections to gain unfair advantage."There's privilege every year, but this year there's more than ever," says one user on Weibo. Another wrote: "I would love to see more scandals like this. They are truly eye-opening."Frustrated with rising unemployment and a slowing economy, more and more young Chinese people feel that connections, or guanxi, pay off more than hard work, research for instance, was accused of using her actress mother's connections to enrol in a prestigious drama programme, which her mother attended in the 1980s, was for ethnic Mongolian students like them. But then old interview clips resurfaced, in which she had said she didn't fulfil a key obligation - she went to study in Norway after graduating, instead of returning to work in Inner Mongolia as required by the grew in early June, just as millions of high school seniors sat for the gruelling university entrance exam called Gaokao – the same exam that earned Nashi a spot at the drama school in sleuths dug up the lowest scores for that year and suspected they were hers. Did she only go to the drama school because of her mum, they asked. It was a serious enough allegation that officials eventually stepped in to clarify that she had a much higher it was not enough. The scandal that started it all Internet scandals are hardly unique to China but they have become a much-needed outlet – for anger, questions or just disappointment - in a tightly-censored media is almost non-existent, leaving a lot of room for unchecked speculation and just plain rumours to spread rapidly through China's vast social media universe. And in some cases, users online have done their own investigations to verify allegations and unearth is what happened in April when two doctors - identified only by their surnames, Mr Xiao and Ms Dong – at a top Beijing hospital found themselves caught in a national storm over an alleged love affair. Mr Xiao's wife wrote a letter to his employer accusing him of favouring Ms Dong at work because the two were in a relationship. Among her many allegations was one that eventually cost him his job: she said he had left a sedated patient unattended on the operating table for 40 minutes to defend Ms Dong during a dispute with a was a shocking episode but it quickly became so much more, as attention shifted to Ms Dong. An angry internet found out that she had finished studying to be a doctor in just four years, compared to the minimum of eight accused her of cheating her way into an elite programme at China's most prestigious medical school, Peking Union Medical College, and plagiarising her graduation intense was the backlash that the National Health Commission investigated and confirmed the allegations. Authorities revoked Ms Dong's licence to practise medicine and her degrees, hoping that would put an end to the clinical experience – which stretched across various specialties – also came under scrutiny, along with her family's political ties. But officials didn't respond to those accusations, raising further questions about a cover-up."There were failures at every step. There's no way they'll dig any deeper," says a young doctor in Qingdao city who did not wish to share her is not uncommon for people to use "guanxi" to help their children find jobs, she says, but what bothers her is the "deep-rooted unfairness".Having spent 11 years to become a resident like Ms Dong, she says she and her colleagues had never heard of the programme Ms Dong graduated from: "We were all shocked when we learnt about it. Clearly, it's not meant for ordinary people like us."This scandal particularly stung in hyper-competitive China where doctors work gruelling hours to earn a residency at top hospitals, or just to hold on to the jobs they do have."Why is everything so unfair," she asked, echoing the disillusionment that was widespread in the comments online."We work tirelessly treating patients with the utmost care - as if we were their grandchildren. Yet our life is far worse than [Ms] Dong's." It was this discontent that also drove the outrage against Harvard graduate Yurong Luanna Jiang in drew attention after her speech at a graduation ceremony went viral the same day a US federal judge blocked US President Donald Trump's ban on foreign students at Harvard. When she shared the video online, she spoke of a difficult childhood, spent "drifting from place to place", and how studying hard had given her everything she now first she was applauded for calling for unity in a polarised world - even some Chinese people commented saying they were touched by her words. But her social media posts soon irked the Chinese internet, which then began examining her resume and challenging her claim that hard work alone had led to her critics did not sympathise with her challenges – they found holes in every story and when she pushed back, they doubled seemed to be yet another reminder of the narrowing opportunities that faced many young Chinese post-Covid growth has brought layoffs, salary cuts and hiring freezes. Millions of graduates are struggling to find jobs, settling for lower-paid work or quitting the race user on RedNote said she had been posting online in anger about these scandals only to find out hours later that a job offer she had accepted was retracted because the company had paused hiring."Sure enough, the things you weren't born with, you'll never have in this lifetime," she wrote. 'You know what you know' This anger is not new. For some time now, the Chinese government has been censoring excessive displays of wealth by celebrities and influencers. But there are things that escape even their watchful eye, such as a pair of came for actress Huang Yang Tian Tian when a suspicious internet began speculating that earrings she had recently worn cost more than ¥2.3 million ($320,000; £237,100).They began questioning how she could afford them and discovered that her father was a civil servant-turned-businessman. Then they found out that he had worked in the local government in Ya'an, which was hit by a devastating earthquake in controversy blew up with more questions about the family's wealth, and insinuations that they had profited from post-quake recovery funds. Authorities denied this and said Ms Huang's earrings, made of glass, were a cheap replica of a luxury not everyone believes them. "You know what you know," reads one Weibo comment with more than 1,000 likes. "Were the officials laughing?" another user the Chinese Communist Party is concerned enough to launch investigations, their swift response does not seem to be enough."The loss of public trust didn't happen in a day or two," writes a user on RedNote. "It's the result of one investigation after another that insults our intelligence, one unresolved incident after another."Public frustration lingers as the Party tries to grapple with increasing discontent. And its message to young people is they should "eat bitterness", a Chinese phrase for enduring hardship, in the pursuit of "national rejuvenation".But online, one of the few places where Chinese people still speak openly, that message seems to be ringing hollow as people debate the advantages enjoyed by "the elites", often simply referred to as "they"."They are the reason why we worked so hard for three generations and are still in misery," a top-liked comment on Weibo comment on RedNote, where no-one in particular is being accused, says: "We earn money one cent at a time, while they embezzle hundreds of millions - and then they teach us that hard work leads to prosperity and that labour is honourable."
The Star
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Star
Chinese actress Nashi accused of faking records to take college entrance exam
The authorities in northern China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region have accused an actress of using falsified records to take the country's national college entrance examination, also known as gaokao, in 2008. The accusation levelled against the actress, identified in Chinese media as Nashi (pic), has spread widely on social media platform Weibo. The 35-year-old gained popularity for her role as a female general in Creation Of The Gods II (2025), which was the third highest-grossing film over Chinese New Year. She was recently seen in TV series The Litchi Road (2025). In a recent interview, Nashi said she graduated from the Shanghai Theatre Academy through a commissioned training programme designed to develop specialised talent for ethnic and underdeveloped regions. Her subsequent pursuit of a master's degree in Norway, rather than returning to work in Inner Mongolia as required by the programme, sparked questions on how she was able to break the agreement. A statement released on June 21 by Inner Mongolia's education department said a joint investigation found that Nashi had registered for the 2008 national college entrance exam as a graduating student from Hohhot No. 8 Middle School. However, officials said she had never attended the school and had no official student record there – a violation the department described as 'suspected fraud in college application materials'. In 2008, Nashi was admitted to the Shanghai Theatre Academy through a government-sponsored programme. From 2008 to 2020, the programme enrolled students with the understanding that graduates would return to Inner Mongolia to work in their respective fields. In 2012, after completing her undergraduate studies, Nashi applied to retrieve her diploma and degree certificate to pursue a master's degree in Norway. The request was approved, and she did not return to fulfil her employment obligations in Inner Mongolia, according to the investigation. While her documents were legally returned following a review, the case has raised broader questions about the enforcement of such contracts and the oversight of special training programmes funded or facilitated by public resources. Commentators online have characterised the incident as a warning about the potential abuse of the education system. The authorities said the investigation is ongoing and vowed to hold the relevant parties accountable in accordance with laws and regulations. They also pledged to review existing policies and strengthen oversight to prevent similar incidents in the future. – China Daily/Asia News Network
Straits Times
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Chinese actress Nashi accused of faking records to take college entrance exam
Chinese actress Nashi has come under public scrutiny regarding her alleged breach of contract. PHOTO: NARNAASH/INSTAGRAM BEIJING – Authorities in northern China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region have accused an actress of using falsified records to take the country's national college entrance exam, also known as gaokao, in 2008. The accusation levelled against the actress, identified in Chinese media as Nashi, has spread widely on social media platform Weibo. The 35-year-old gained popularity for her role as a female general in Creation Of The Gods II (2025), which was the third highest-grossing film ove r C hinese New Year. She was recently seen in TV series The Litchi Road (2025). In a recent interview, Nashi stated that she graduated from the Shanghai Theatre Academy through a commissioned training programme designed to develop specialised talent for ethnic and underdeveloped regions. Her subsequent pursuit of a master's degree in Norway, rather than returning to work in Inner Mongolia as required by the programme, sparked questions on how she was able to break the agreement. A statement released on June 21 by Inner Mongolia's education department stated that a joint investigation found that Nashi had registered for the 2008 national college entrance exam as a graduating student from Hohhot No 8 Middle School. However, officials stated she had never attended the school and had no official student record there – a violation the department described as 'suspected fraud in college application materials'. In 2008, Nashi was admitted to the Shanghai Theatre Academy through a government-sponsored programme. From 2008 to 2020, the programme enrolled students with the understanding that graduates would return to Inner Mongolia to work in their respective fields. In 2012, after completing her undergraduate studies, Nashi applied to retrieve her diploma and degree certificate to pursue a master's degree in Norway. The request was approved, and she did not return to fulfil her employment obligations in Inner Mongolia, according to the investigation. While her documents were legally returned following a review, the case has raised broader questions about the enforcement of such contracts and the oversight of special training programmes funded or facilitated by public resources. Commentators online have characterised the incident as a warning about the potential abuse of the education system. Authorities stated the investigation is ongoing and vowed to hold the relevant parties accountable in accordance with laws and regulations. They also pledged to review existing policies and strengthen oversight to prevent similar incidents in the future. CHINA DAILY/ASIA NEWS NETWORK Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
South China Morning Post
23-06-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Is China a just society? Economic woes erode public perception of fairness
Education department authorities of China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region did an unusual thing over the weekend. They opened the 2008 files of the gaokao , the national college entrance exam, to determine if rising mainland actress Nashi had committed fraud to enrol in the prestigious Shanghai Theatre Academy (STA). That investigation was initiated after the 35-year-old Nashi caused an outcry on Chinese social media when the actress hinted online that she had not 'played fair' in her exam 17 years ago. The team investigating the case found that Nashi did not attend a local high school, but managed to take the national exam with faked documents. She subsequently enrolled in the STA through a special arrangement, which required her to return to and serve in Inner Mongolia after graduation. Nashi, however, went to Norway for further studies after her time at STA. Nashi's use of subterfuge to get ahead touched a raw nerve on the mainland, where social justice has become a sensitive issue amid China's yawning wealth gap and deepening social class ossification 13:01 Why is China's gruelling gaokao college entrance exam so tough? Why is China's gruelling gaokao college entrance exam so tough? The gaokao, which has been in place since Deng Xiaoping resumed its operation in 1977, is widely considered the most important test to help ascertain social mobility on the mainland. It offers a relatively fair system of meritocracy – especially for children from less-privileged Chinese households – to secure a spot in a top university, paving the way for career opportunities and a decent living.
