The Actress’ Earrings That Triggered a Corruption Probe in China Are Just Imitations

Remember the intense public scrutiny over Huang Yang Tiantian’s emerald earrings which she wore to her high school graduation? Unfortunately for the young actress, the seemingly luxurious pair supposedly worth RMB 2.3 million (~ US$ 320,378) triggered an entire corruption investigation against her dad who used to hold public office. Well this week, the results of the investigation are finally out and the earrings … are indeed imitations as her parents previously claimed.

The Earrings Are Less Than RMB 300

According to the report, Huang Yang Tiantian’s “expensive earrings” are actually imitations gifted by a friend of her mum’s back in 2016. And yes, testing conducted showed they are made of glass and are worth less than RMB 300 (US$ 42). Ya’an authorities also found that the supposed ‘billion yuan villa’ that appeared on the actress photos was just a casual photo she took of a villa in Huizhou many years ago. Moreover, they also found that the Yang family was not involved in post-earthquake projects as some have alleged, and that they did not profit through other means.

Not 100% Clear from Illegal Activities

But wait, just when everyone thought they can finally breathe a huge sigh of relief, the investigation conducted by Ya’an authorities did find several anomalies. First, Mr Yang indeed concealed the fact that his wife had illegally given birth to a second child as many have alleged. However, since the pertinent regulations for family planning penalties have been scrapped and since he’s already resigned from public office, the current law doesn’t hold.

Meanwhile, the bigger offense found was that Mr Yang illegally supplemented his income by using his public position to “help” the company he co-founded (which was put under the name of relatives with three other public officials) win bids that generated RMB 120,000 in profits. Mr Yang himself received RMB 30,000 for his efforts. According to the investigation report, although the illegal income has since been confiscated by the authorities, Mr Yang was not subjected to further administrative sanctions as he was no longer a member of the Chinese Communist Party. Nonetheless, the other three officials involved in the scheme were sanctioned by the party for their illegal activities.

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