Beijing police name pianist Li Yundi in prostitution case

The official China Musicians Association also said it was expelling Li from the organization based on the Beijing Chaoyang District police notice that he had been arrested.

Hypocrites!!!!

Prostitution is widespread in China and the government uses it as a weapon to target people who have fallen out of favor with this murderous regime!!!

Big deal. He had sex with a willing prostitute. The hypocrisy of so many governments. Prostitution should be legalized anyway.

I am usually the first to speak out against people being reactionary about China, but yeah this one is really dumb.

Prostitution* shouldn't be a crime to begin with; it should be better regulated for the safety of both the workers and client, but never illegal.

*Unless this is some case of human trafficking, coercion, or underage prostitution. In which case that's a radically different story. That doesn't seem to be the case here though.

Oh yeah clearly he did something else that led to this charge.

You cannot walk a few meters on Nanjing Road Shanghai without being accosted by someone offering massage and more. Most 4 star and 5 star hotels in bigger cities of China will always have a few prostitutes sitting in the lobby winking at anyone who meets their eyes.....

Fact is the government turns a blind eye to all this but will use it only when they want to teach someone a lesson!

Have to laugh at the "purer than thou" Communist China leadership. Claiming prostitution is "against the public good", and that China has impeachable morals.

As many here are noting, prostitution is endemic in China. Has been forever, will be forever.

Yet these very same men would be the biggest users of prostitutes themselves.

has no one mentioned the coincidence of this arrest being made on the SAME DAY AS THE FINALISTS BEING ANNOUNCED in this year's competition in Poland?

out of dozens in the preliminaries, only one chinese national made it through to the final round, and ultimately he wasnt selected for any prize. China is pissed.

is this their way to kill two birds with one stone? arrest the guy to set an example to others in the entertainment industrry that such 'immoral' behavior wont be tolerated; and also to try and smear the west/Europe by exposing the 'dirty laundry' of the winning player of one of the most prestigious international piano competitions...?

ulysses:

Prostitution is widespread in China

It's also widespread in US and Japan. Do you think authorities in these countries tolerate prostitution? Next, you'll be criticizing China for taking action against drug-smuggling. Christ.

He is being made an example of. He will probably never again be allowed to perform again. The way the CCP sees it if they allow him to perform again and be admired for his talent it would tell people his soliciting a prostitute was ok. He's done unless he can find a way out of China, and good luck with that.

Governments have no business interfering in the lives of consenting adults. Not just in China. The Spanish PM recently announced he was going to wipe out prostitution in Spain, effectively pushing it underground, making a vulnerable sector more vulnerable, wasting police time, criminalising loads of people and behaving like Franco.

It looks like the Chinese government are now picking off celebrities, selectively. They don't want anyone to be more famous or more popular than senior party figures. No skill or ability matters more than being a good Communist.

Xi prostitute democracy everyday

It's also widespread in US and Japan.

Do the US and Japan governments use it as a weapon to target people they want to control?

Next, you'll be criticizing China for taking action against drug-smuggling. Christ.

Do you think death sentence is a justified crime for drug smuggling? Don’t bring God into a China discussion!!

Some years ago I had firsthand experience of the Chinese honey-trap and how it works.

So, is this a sign that they are going to clean up their act from now on? I'll believe that when I see it.