Jackie Chan's son Jaycee charged with drug crime by Chinese prosecutors
PUBLISHED : Monday, 22 December, 2014, 5:34pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 23 December, 2014, 2:20am
Angela Meng and Vivienne Chow
Jaycee Chan tested positive for marijuana months ago and was arrested. Photo: Reuters
Jaycee Chan Jo-ming, the son of kung fu action superstar Jackie Chan, faces up to three years in jail after prosecutors in Beijing charged him with sheltering others to use drugs.
The younger Chan was detained along with Taiwanese movie star Ko Chen-tung for suspected drug use at a foot massage parlour in the capital on August 14. Police said more than 100 grams of marijuana were later found at Chan's home and that both men admitted to using the drug.
Ko was released after 14 days in administrative detention, while Chan, 32, has remained in police custody.
The charge was announced by the Supreme People's Procuratorate on its microblog yesterday although it did not elaborate on the legal proceedings.
After his son's detention, Jackie Chan said he was "furious and shocked", and blamed himself for his son's behaviour. He offered a "deep bow of apology" in August for his son. Jackie Chan, 60, served as goodwill spokesman for the China National Anti-Drug Committee in 2009.
Jaycee Chan, also known as Fong Cho-ming, has seen his attempts to establish a film career fall flat on the mainland and Hong Kong. In 2011, his father said he was not leaving him any money after he died.
President Xi Jinping is cracking down on illegal drug use on the mainland, and police have launched numerous raids in Beijing. In the past, celebrities busted for drugs have been given administrative detention but not charged with a criminal offence.
In July, the police detained Hong Kong actor Roy Cheung Yiu-yeung, 51, after he was allegedly caught smoking cannabis in a Beijing hotel. They said 1.15 grams of marijuana was found in his luggage and he tested positive for drugs. He was given 20 days of administrative detention.
In 2011, Hong Kong actor Suen Hing was detained for 19 days, while colleague Max Mok Siu-chung was released after 14 days. Other high-profile arrests include actor Gao Hu, Zhang Mo and award-winning director Zhang Yuan.
