Canadian pop star Kris Wu sentenced to 13 years in jail for rape in China

A Beijing court has sentenced the Chinese-born Canadian pop star Kris Wu to 13 years in jail after finding him guilty of crimes including rape, just over a year after his arrest in China, where he was born and built a lucrative career.

The court in Chaoyang district said investigations showed that from November to December 2020, Wu, also known as Wu Yifan, raped three women.

A former member of the K-pop group Exo, the superstar returned to China in 2014 to pursue a solo career.

Wu was detained in Beijing on 31 July 2021 after an 18-year-old Chinese student publicly accused him of inducing her and other girls, some aged under 18, to have sex with him.

At the time, the student told media Wu had lured her into having sex when she was 17, after having plied her with alcohol.

The court also found him guilty of the crime of assembling a crowd to engage in sexual promiscuity in July 2018, it said.

The Canadian embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment, though state media said its officials had attended the sentencing.

Wu was also ordered to pay 600m yuan (£69m) for hiding personal income and other tax-related offences, the tax bureau said.

Wu evaded 95m yuan of tax from 2019 to 2020 by hiding personal income through domestic and foreign affiliated enterprises, and underpaid taxes of 84m yuan, authorities said.

At the time of his detention, Wu was an ambassador for 15 brands, including Bulgari, Lancôme, Louis Vuitton and Porsche, all of which immediately severed ties with him.

The court said Wu would be deported, although lawyers in China have said such deportations typically take place after completion of the sentence.