“Why hire her? There are many other Chinese celebrities with no record of malpractice,” said one online observer.
While another added: “She evaded tax and got censored in China. But she got many jobs overseas. This appointment is beyond my imagination.”
The 42-year-old actress was among the country’s highest-earning stars and one of the best internationally-known artists from China before she was investigated for evading taxes in May 2018.
She was alleged to have signed two contracts to conceal her real income.
In October 2018, the tax authorities ordered her to pay about 884 million yuan (US$122 million) in overdue taxes and fines.
