CHINA:Hong Kong's unscrupulous tabloids have turned their sights on an actor being pursued by an unbalanced 'full-time fan', writes Clifford Coonanin Beijing
Celebrity stalking is a relatively new phenomenon in China, but Yang Lijuan's obsession with the Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau came to dominate her entire family, with the madness escalating until it culminated in her father's suicide.
The 29-year-old woman from Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province, pursued Andy Lau single-mindedly for 13 years. Ms Yang's parents tried to convince her to drop her obsession with Mr Lau, one of Asia's biggest stars known for his movie roles, his singing and his work to encourage young film-makers in the continent.
Lau has not made the move to Hollywood and is relatively unknown to Irish audiences, though film buffs know the 45-year-old actor from his roles in Chinese movies such as Zhang Yimou's House of Flying Daggers, or Hong Kong movies such as Infernal Affairs or Days of Being Wild.
In Asia, he is a legend, having starred in countless movies and made scores of records like his role model, Elvis.
Ms Yang dropped out of school at the age of 16 to become a "full-time fan", despite her parents' pleading for her to stop. Her mother, Du Juying (54), was unemployed so the family of three were forced to rely on her father's pension. Yang Qinji (68), had been a teacher and received 2,000 yuan, about €200, a month as a pension.
This is a decent pension in China, but it was not enough to fund Yang Lijuan's burgeoning obsession with Andy Lau. With money running out fast, Mr Yang sold their house. It was still not enough, and Lijuan's father was forced to consider other, more dangerous ways of earning the wherewithal to fund his daughter's chosen "career", including selling one of his kidneys.
On March 19th, the family decided to move to Hong Kong, but ended up living in a fast food restaurant. Still, Ms Yang's dream came through, and she got to meet her idol, and have her photograph taken with him.
But only as part of a group, which she thought scant reward for 13 years of worship, and she demanded a private meeting with the star.
Exasperated, her father threw himself into Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong, after leaving a 12-page suicide note in which he rests the blame squarely with the actor.
Yang Lijuan is unrepentant. She has returned from Hong Kong with her mother and the Xinhua news agency reports that she has insisted that she should meet Lau again.
"I will not bring my father's body home unless Andy Lau pays a memorial visit and prostrates himself before my father," she said.
The incident has led to some questions being asked in the Chinese media about celebrity stalking, but this has not stopped TV stations queuing up to interview the bereaved widow as she reads out notes saying her husband's dying wish was for Yang Lijuan to meet Andy Lau.
Rather than focusing on the grotesque nature of the story and wondering about Ms Yang's mental health, they are treating it as a story of unrequited love and of a loving father doing his best for his daughter.
Lau's people have said they won't be meeting the stalker anytime soon.
"We have conveyed our condolences and what they should do now is return home and turn over a new leaf," came the message from Lau.
It is difficult not to feel sympathy for Andy Lau, an amiable man who recently won a major Asian award for his services to the film industry in China.
As a single man, speculation about his sexual orientation is common in the Hong Kong media, and there are regular reports that he is losing his hair. Even false reports of his death are regularly retailed by Beijing's unscrupulous "blue tabloids", keen to sell their illegal papers to evening commuters.