Great Asian Sex Scandals

On 31 January 2008, an unemployed man identified as 29-year-old Chung Yik-tin (???) was arrested for allegedly uploading one image; 12  pictures were found on his computer. The next day he was arraigned but denied bail because he was suspected of blackmailing the actor and actresses. The case would reconvene eight weeks later, and Chung Yik-tin was destined to spend Chinese New Year in detention. After investigating the connection between the suspect and artists, the police were satisfied that blackmail was not involved. Following the furore at the police that the photograph allegedly posted by Chung was later classified as “indecent”, Chung was unconditionally released from detention on 15 February, and charges against him were dropped.

On 2 February, police arrested four men and two women in connection with the distribution of the photographs. Of the six, three men and a woman were released on HK$20,000 bail and ordered to report back to the police in eight weeks. The police revealed that during 2007, Edison Chen brought his computer to a shop for repairs. Employees who discovered over 1,300 intimate photographs may have secretly copied these files.

On 4 February, a 29-year-old man became the eighth person to be detained in connection with the Internet posting of nude photos. On the same day, 23-year-old Sze Ho-Chun (???) was arrested and charged with “dishonest use of computers with criminal intent”, which has a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment. The man appeared in Eastern Court on 5 February, where he denied the charge and was released on $50,000 bail. The case was adjourned to 22 February.

Assistant Commissioner Wong said the source of the pictures had been traced, but he would not confirm reports stating that they had been taken from Chen’s computer. He added that the authenticity of the photographs was no longer in question. Wong also said of the six women found in the photographs, four were local celebrities and two were unknown to the police. None of the women were named. Wong was certain that no overseas artists were involved. He said that it was not a crime to transfer the pictures to friends, but those who had posted the images to Internet web pages could be in breach of the Hong Kong law. His statement has prompted some people to solicit for or send the picture files to their “friends” en masse by email.

On 5 February, as another of the suspects was released on $50,000 bail, six more related photographs surfaced on the Internet. In the early hours on Chinese New Year’s Eve, several hundred more photographs appeared on the Internet; there were two new faces.

The police arrested a tenth person in connection with the case on 10 February. Kwok Chun-wai, a 24-year-old logistics clerk, was charged with distribution of pornography. He had allegedly posted the link to a local discussion forum after uploading a compressed file containing over a hundred images to a site in Cyprus. Kwok was released on $10,000 bail and was required to report to the police three times a week.  He entered a guilty plea to three counts of publishing an obscene article in July. On 24 July 2008, he was sentenced to two months in prison, suspended for two years.

Computer technician Sze Ho-chun was convicted on 13 May 2009 of three counts of obtaining access to a computer with dishonest intent, and received a custodial sentence of eight and a half months. However, there was no evidence that he uploaded the pictures to the Internet

On 31 January 2008, an unemployed man identified as 29-year-old Chung Yik-tin (???) was arrested for allegedly uploading one image; 12 pictures were found on his computer. The next day he was arraigned but denied bail because he was suspected of blackmailing the actor and actresses. The case would reconvene eight weeks later,[41] and Chung Yik-tin was destined to spend Chinese New Year in detention. After investigating the connection between the suspect and artists, the police were satisfied that blackmail was not involved. Following the furore at the police that the photograph allegedly posted by Chung was later classified as “indecent”, Chung was unconditionally released from detention on 15 February, and charges against him were dropped.

On 2 February, police arrested four men and two women in connection with the distribution of the photographs. Of the six, three men and a woman were released on HK$20,000 bail and ordered to report back to the police in eight weeks. The police revealed that during 2007, Edison Chen brought his computer to a shop for repairs. Employees who discovered over 1,300 intimate photographs may have secretly copied these files.

On 4 February, a 29-year-old man became the eighth person to be detained in connection with the Internet posting of nude photos. On the same day, 23-year-old Sze Ho-Chun (???) was arrested and charged with “dishonest use of computers with criminal intent”, which has a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment. The man appeared in Eastern Court on 5 February, where he denied the charge and was released on $50,000 bail. The case was adjourned to 22 February.

Assistant Commissioner Wong said the source of the pictures had been traced, but he would not confirm reports stating that they had been taken from Chen’s computer. He added that the authenticity of the photographs was no longer in question. Wong also said of the six women found in the photographs, four were local celebrities and two were unknown to the police. None of the women were named. Wong was certain that no overseas artists were involved. He said that it was not a crime to transfer the pictures to friends, but those who had posted the images to Internet web pages could be in breach of the Hong Kong law. His statement has prompted some people to solicit for or send the picture files to their “friends” en masse by email.

On 5 February, as another of the suspects was released on $50,000 bail, six more related photographs surfaced on the Internet. In the early hours on Chinese New Year’s Eve, several hundred more photographs appeared on the Internet; there were two new faces.

The police arrested a tenth person in connection with the case on 10 February. Kwok Chun-wai, a 24-year-old logistics clerk, was charged with distribution of pornography. He had allegedly posted the link to a local discussion forum after uploading a compressed file containing over a hundred images to a site in Cyprus. Kwok was released on $10,000 bail and was required to report to the police three times a week. He entered a guilty plea to three counts of publishing an obscene article in July. On 24 July 2008, he was sentenced to two months in prison, suspended for two years.

China News Service (CNS) reported that more than 100 police officers had been sent to investigate the case,[20] although Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime) Vincent Wong Fook-chuen later declared that the investigating team consisted of 19 officers from the Commercial Crime Bureau. The police and photographic experts, who examined the images involving the first three female celebrities, said the photos were unlikely to have been composites.

The Hong Kong police moved on all Internet service providers to stamp out all local traces of the as yet unclassified “offensive material”. The police met with more than 200 people responsible for major Hong Kong Web sites and BBS communities to urge them to delete the pictures on appearance “as they have the responsibility to stop crimes”. Related discussion threads were progressively deleted. The police ordered several locally registered web sites and BBS management firms to submit information about their clients, and had retrieved the IP addresses of more than 30 Internet users who allegedly posted photographs.

China News Service (CNS) reported that more than 100 police officers had been sent to investigate the case, although Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime) Vincent Wong Fook-chuen later declared that the investigating team consisted of 19 officers from the Commercial Crime Bureau. The police and photographic experts, who examined the images involving the first three female celebrities, said the photos were unlikely to have been composites.

The Hong Kong police moved on all Internet service providers to stamp out all local traces of the as yet unclassified “offensive material”. The police met with more than 200 people responsible for major Hong Kong Web sites and BBS communities to urge them to delete the pictures on appearance “as they have the responsibility to stop crimes”. Related discussion threads were progressively deleted. The police ordered several locally registered web sites and BBS management firms to submit information about their clients, and had retrieved the IP addresses of more than 30 Internet users who allegedly posted photographs.

In November 2006, Chen purchased a pink PowerBook personal computer, a photograph of which he published on his blog. It may have come from eLite Multimedia, a computer shop in Hong Kong’s Central district. According to the police, Chen’s “Cotton-candy Mac” computer was sent in for repairs, and an estimated 1,300 intimate photographs of Chen and numerous female celebrities may have been accessed and secretly copied by one or more of the shop’s employees. According to Chen, the image files were deleted before the computer was taken in for repairs. Chen’s photographs were reportedly made some time between 2003 and 2006. One close friend indicated that Chen liked to take photographs during intimate moments with his sexual partners, of whom 14 were celebrities, and privately showed these to a select group of close friends.

The first photograph, depicting Chen and Gillian Chung, was posted on the Hong Kong Discuss Forum at approximately 8:30 p.m. on 27 January 2008. Although the original post was deleted after a few hours, some visitors forwarded the image to other major forums in Hong Kong such as Uwants and HKGolden. Chung’s management agency, Emperor Entertainment Group (EEG), immediately challenged its authenticity, and filed a police report.

The following day, a second explicit photograph of Chen, with another starlet, appeared on the Internet. After an emergency meeting that evening at EEG, the company declared that it would pursue the publisher of the image for this “irresponsible” and “malicious act”. Gillian Chung was reportedly very distraught, had taken a leave of absence, and would not comment on the matter. Shaped by the denials, the initial media consensus was that the photographs were hoaxes. Nevertheless, the story became the headline of major local Hong Kong newspapers.

At 12:30 p.m. on 29 January, a higher resolution photograph appeared on the Internet. Journals noted the uncanny resemblance to Cecilia Cheung, especially her distinctive tattoo set. The photographs became the talk of the town, and local discussion forums became saturated. A low-resolution sequence (photos 4 to 7) of Chen with Chung appeared at 3 p.m.; a nude photograph of Cecilia Cheung appeared at 6 p.m. Journals established with known video footage that the photographs were taken inside Chen’s residence. Nevertheless, Cheung’s solicitors denounced the upload as a “malicious, immoral and irresponsible act”

The Edison Chen sex scandal was the biggest sex scandal that Hong Kong has ever seen. Its handling by the police led to concerns about civil liberties. 

The Edison Chen photo scandal involved the illegal distribution over the Internet of intimate and private photographs of Hong Kong actor Edison Chen with various women, including actresses Gillian Chung, Bobo Chan, Rachel Ngan and Cecilia Cheung.[1] The scandal shook the Hong Kong entertainment industry in early 2008 and received high profile media attention locally and around the world. Many local newspapers headlined the story consecutively during the first fortnight of February 2008, relegating coverage of the 2008 Chinese winter storms to secondary prominence during Chinese New Year.

The Hong Kong police enlisted the assistance of Interpol to stem the spread of the photographs.  Ten people were arrested in connection with the distribution of the photographs.[3] A computer technician was convicted of three counts of obtaining access to a computer with dishonest intent, and received a custodial sentence of eight and a half months.

The police crackdown raised questions over violations of the privacy and free speech rights of Internet users.  The manner in which actors, their management, and the police handled the situation, in turn, made those arrested into heroes for some Internet users.

Chen admitted being the author and copyright owner of most of the photographs, and stated that the private photographs had been stolen and published illegally without his consent. He made a public apology, especially to the women involved, and also announced that he would “step away indefinitely” from the Hong Kong entertainment industry.