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BEIJING : Chinese film starlet Zhang Ziyi has taken the blame for an earthquake donation scandal in her first comments on a flap that sparked a firestorm of Internet criticism and questions about her honesty.
Fighting back tears, Zhang told the China Daily in an interview published Tuesday that she failed to follow up with her staff after telling them to transfer money she had promised to victims of China's huge May 2008 earthquake.
"I take the main responsibility for the lapse and causing my staff to mix it up," said the 31-year-old Zhang, the star of films such as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Memoirs of a Geisha".
"Donationgate," as China's state media dubbed the row, surfaced in January when a popular Chinese website said Zhang had given only 840,000 yuan (US$124,000) of a promised one million yuan. The donations were eventually made.
The 8.0-magnitude quake devastated parts of southwestern China, leaving at least 87,000 people dead or missing.
Zhang has long been a lightning rod for criticism in her home country, but came under intense fire on the Chinese Internet and media over the donations.
Even normally staid state television, whose typical fare consists of reports praising government leadership, ran a talk-show segment implying Zhang had not come clean.
In the interview, Zhang also denied widespread allegations of missing funds in a foundation she set up for quake victims, saying: "We have never done anything illegal."
Zhang said she had remained mum on the issue up until now on the advice of lawyers, but admitted the attacks on her character had taken a toll.
"Of course there were moments when I felt bad," she said.
"I wanted to do something good, but we had our problems, such as my lack of experience, my failure to disclose to the public, my limited knowledge about philanthropy and other reasons."
Zhang has come under attack before in China, where fans often savage entertainment stars online for actions deemed shameful to the country.
She has been criticised for having a foreign boyfriend - Israeli billionaire Vivi Nevo - and for playing a Japanese woman in "Geisha".
In 2008, actress Gong Li's decision to become a Singapore citizen sparked a similar outcry, with many branding her a traitor.
- AFP/il
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