A screen capture of Chinese actress Zhang Yuqi's official Sina Weibo account after her husband and director Wang Quan'an was detained on suspicion of buying sex in Beijing.[Photo/Weibo]

Director Wang charged with hiring prostitutes

Celebrity 'sorry' for sex scandal

Responding the evening of Sept 15 on her micro blog to media concerns, Zhang said she was attending a fashion show in New York City last week when Wang was detained.

"Thanks for everybody's concern for me and my family. I have mixed feelings now. I believe the law-enforcement authority will impose a fair punishment for the violation of public rules. We (she and her husband) will face the incident's effect on our family calmly and take joint responsibility," Zhang said.

Zhang, 28, was the lead actress in the 2011 movie White Deer Plain, which Wang directed. Their romance grew during the filming, and they married the following year.

Wang, a 48-year-old Shaanxi native, was caught having sex with an alleged prostitute, a 31-year-old from Heilongjiang province, on Sept 10 in an apartment in Dongcheng district in Beijing. Both admitted their guilt.

Prostitution is illegal on the Chinese mainland.

Wang, who graduated from the Beijing Film Academy in 1991, is regarded as part of the "sixth generation" of Chinese film directors. Since his debut film, Lunar Eclipse, in 1999, he has achieved success on the international film festival circuit.

Most notably, he was awarded the Golden Bear award at the 2007 Berlin International Film Festival for his film Tuya's Marriage. The win was the third time a Chinese film was awarded the Berlinale's top award, after Xie Fei's Woman Sesame Oil Maker and Zhang Yimou's debut film, Red Sorghum. Wang also won the best-screenplay award for Apart Together at the 60th Berlin International Film Festival with co-writer Na Jin.

White Deer Plain was also nominated for the Golden Bear at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival.

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