Mainland Chinese authorities have seized two luxury Beijing properties owned by Hong Kong actor and martial arts legend Jackie Chan—despite objections and court appeals by the movie star. The high-end apartments, where Chan and his family have lived for over a decade, are valued at over 100 million yuan ($14 million), according to the auction listing seen by AFP. According to court documents reviewed by AFP, the luxury dwellings will be put up for auction following a July court ruling which saw a tussle between Chan and two real estate firms over ownership. Virtual tours of the properties showed lavish living spaces, including a pool table, spacious walk-in wardrobes and a framed picture of the “Rush Hour” star posing with former U.S. President Barack Obama. The auctions of Chan’s Beijing homes are expected to commence in late September, according to South China Morning Post. One of the properties was also the scene of an infamous 2014 drug raid involving Chan’s then-31-year-old entertainer son Jaycee. The younger Chan was arrested for possession of marijuana and sentenced to six months in jail. The elder Chan, 66, is a member of the Communist Party’s political advisory body and an official police-appointed “Narcotics Control Ambassador.”“As a public figure, I am ashamed. As a father, I am very sad and heartbroken,” Chan said in 2014 following his son’s arrest.Chan’s troubled personal life has made tabloid headlines, while his pro-Beijing stance has made him a divisive and deeply unpopular figure in his birthplace Hong Kong, where tensions with the Chinese government are on the rise following the implementation of a controversial new national security law. The new law, unilaterally imposed by Beijing, bans all forms of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with a foreign country. It threatens a maximum penalty of life in prison. Chan, along with other mainland Chinese celebrities, voiced support for the bill. The sudden seizures of Chan’s Beijing properties have led to intense speculation by curious netizens on the Chinese internet. On the Chinese microblogging platform Sina Weibo, the news quickly became a trending topic. “You can be a brown-nosed government supporter like Jackie Chan but even that won’t save you from Xi Jinping’s corruption net,” wrote one user.Other users compared Chan’s situation with that of Fan Bingbing—one of China’s highest-paid actresses who mysteriously vanished from the public eye and was later fined millions for tax fraud and other offenses after being linked to a government probe.“Tax fraud and evasion is even more unforgivable than corruption in the eyes of the Communist Party,” said one Weibo user speculating on Chan’s situation.
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