Police statement Photo: screenshot

The Shanghai police issued a statement on Tuesday confirming that the online claim that screenwriter Qin Wen from Chinese TV series Blossoms Shanghai used personal connections to secure her release from police was fabricated. Qin admitted that she had boasted about her release and connections, and that the conversation was recorded and leaked online without her consent.

According to media reports, screenwriter Qin Wen became embroiled in an online controversy after Cheng Junnian (online alias "Gu Er"), a former staff member of the Chinese TV series Blossoms Shanghai, released private recordings of conversations involving director Wong Kar-wai and Qin Wen. 

In the recording, Qin claimed that a friend of an associate secured her release from the police station after she was involved in a legal offense in Shanghai. The recording sparked heated public discussions.

In response, the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau said they have attached great importance to the matter and immediately conducted a review and investigation into the relevant circumstances.

The Tuesday police statement reads that based on the investigation, around 19:30 on March 29, 2019, two women, surnamed Qin and Xu, were riding bicycles on the sidewalk near the intersection of South Shaanxi Road and Changle Road in Shanghai which violated traffic rules. They were stopped by on-duty police from the Huangpu Public Security Bureau. 

During the process, Xu raised objections and got into a dispute with the officer. Seeing this, Qin patted the officer on the back from behind. The officer handled the situation in accordance with the law and subsequently took both individuals to the Ruijin Erlu Police Station for further investigation, according to the statement.

After arriving at the police station, Qin and Xu acknowledged their mistakes and provided written statements of self-criticism. The police imposed penalties on both individuals for their traffic violations in accordance with the law. At the same time, given that Qin's action of patting the officer was relatively minor in nature, the police decided not to impose penalties for this act, as per the law. 

The statement said that a review by the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau's supervision unit, legal department, and the Municipal Justice Bureau confirmed that the handling of the case was lawful, compliant, and appropriate.

The police statement continued that, following the incident with the police, Qin called her husband, Wang, for help. Wang then contacted a friend in the media outside Shanghai by phone to seek advice, attempting to leverage connections but the friend politely declined. Wang did not contact anyone else afterward, per the statement.

Qin was quoted in the statement that the audio recording circulating online was from a conversation she had with friends while drinking in 2020, during which she discussed the incident. The so-called "pulling strings to secure someone's release" details were described as "jokes" and "showing off connections." The recording was edited by someone present at the scene without Qin's knowledge and uploaded to the internet.

The statement from the Shanghai police emphasized that the Shanghai police have always placed great emphasis on team education management and the standardization of law enforcement. 

They maintain a "zero-tolerance" policy toward any disciplinary violations or illegal actions that interfere with or affect law enforcement. Once verified, such actions will never be condoned, the police said.

In a statement released on November 8, the Blossoms Shanghai production team responded to the online controversy sparked by the release of audio recordings by former staff member. The statement said Cheng's actions constitute rumor-mongering, defamation, and incitement of social confrontation, according to southcn.com. 

Global Times