HONG KONG actor-director-producer Eric Tsang Chi-wai was arrested Wednesday on allegations of slapping businessman Kenny Wee Ho in an Admiralty hotel earlier this month.

    Wee, husband of Suki Chui Suk-man, a 2006 Miss Hong Kong contestant, told police earlier that Tsang slapped him in a dispute at a wedding party at the Marriott Hotel.

    A police spokesman confirmed that a man surnamed Tsang, 59, was arrested at Central police station Wednesday in connection with a common assault and criminal intimidation case. The man was bailed and ordered to report back in mid-January.

    A police source confirmed the arrested man was Eric Tsang.

    Tsang said: “I was just assisting the police investigation. I can only say this much.”

    The source said Wee insisted to police that Tsang had slapped him. The actor was arrested when he was called to Central police station for investigation.

    Tsang, who was accompanied by a lawyer, has denied the allegations, the source said.

    Hong Kong newspapers said the confrontation was ignited by a drug scandal that started Nov. 23, with reports about closed-circuit television footage showing celebrities taking drugs in Wee’s restaurant in October last year. Someone was said to be selling the video, and Wee said the police asked him to assist in a probe.

    Tsang, Wee and his wife were at the wedding of the son of football boss Chow Man-leung, when a drunken Tsang bumped into Wee, said The Sun. Aaron Kwok, Alan Tam and other stars also attended the banquet, said Apple Daily.

    Apparently, Tsang confronted Wee, saying he should not have disregarded the interests of fellow celebrities by disclosing the footage.

    An argument ensued, and amid the chaos, Wee was slapped by someone, said The Sun. According to Ming Pao Daily News, the actor was the one who slapped the businessman.

    Their friends had to step in to separate them. Later, Tsang and Wee left with their friends. The Sun said Wee went to a doctor for a check-up.

    Earlier, Canto-pop singer Eason Chan Yik-shun and wife Hilary Tsui Ho-ying denied Tsui was a drug abuser amid claims a video had been shot showing celebrities taking drugs at Wee’s restaurant. Chan’s lawyer complained that someone was attempting to criminally intimidate his client with a “so-called video clip.”

    The lawyer also brought up another incident involving Tsui and a female friend at the restaurant.

    The board of the restaurant, which is headquartered in Taiwan, issued a statement Wednesday saying that what the lawyer had claimed was libelous and it would reserve its legal rights.

    On the video clip rumors, the statement said there was a notice at the entrance advising of CCTV cameras in the restaurant that were there to protect customers’ safety and the restaurant’s property, but it did not elaborate.

    (SD-Agencies)