Chinese actor Wang Xing, who was rescued in January after being abducted from Thailand and taken to Myanmar, found himself in the spotlight again when a Chinese reality show asked him to re-enact his ordeal.
The show, Memories Beyond Horizon, produced by China’s Zhejiang TV, aims to highlight emerging acting talents. The first episode of its third season aired on April 5.
In a viral clip from the episode, Wang stands alone on stage, performing a scene from the 2023 Chinese film No More Bets, which narrates the plight of Chinese individuals trafficked overseas for internet fraud.
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Wang was tasked with portraying an abducted man allowed to make a phone call to his girlfriend, under the grim condition that “he could be killed at any time”. His performance was so authentic that it blurred the line between acting and reality.
During the video call with his girlfriend, Wang asks her to show him their two cats and urges her to take care of them. Overcome with emotion, he bursts into tears, his body trembling and his hand banging against his head. He continues to cry even after hanging up from the simulated call.
Wang was rescued from the scam hub in Myanmar largely due to the relentless efforts of his girlfriend, Jiajia, who urgently posted online asking for help after losing contact with him. After his rescue, Wang expressed heartfelt gratitude, stating: “Love can fight everything.”
The show’s tutor team, comprised of esteemed figures in the film and TV industry - including Hong Kong directors Yee Tung-sing and Wong Jing, mainland Chinese actor Li Chengru, and celebrity agent and entrepreneur Yang Tianzhen - took on the roles of kidnappers. Several tutors were seen shedding tears during Wang’s performance.
The show also focused on Wang’s distressed expressions and trembling hands in close-up shots.
In a pre-interview segment, Wang mentioned that many from the entertainment industry had approached him to adapt his story into films or TV series. Still, he declined all offers, not wanting to “sell himself off”.
Recognising his dignity, the tutors asked him to perform the scene.
Following the airing of the episode, Zhejiang TV faced backlash from Chinese online observers, who criticised the programme for exploiting Wang and inflicting further trauma despite his evident suffering.
“He is clearly not acting but revealing the severe trauma that he is still enduring. What a cruel and inhumane production team,” one comment read.
“What Zhejiang TV is doing is even worse than the scammers who abducted Wang Xing,” another observer noted.
“What chills me to the bone is that the show business is treating other people’s suffering as entertainment to satisfy the public’s voyeuristic appetite,” a third remarked.
This is not the first controversy for Zhejiang TV; in 2019, Taiwanese-Canadian model and actor Godfrey Gao died of a sudden cardiac arrest after exhausting filming for its reality show Chase Me. The production team faced scrutiny for endangering the celebrity guests.
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