HONG KONG kung fu superstar Jackie Chan’s 32-year-old son has been arrested in Beijing on drug-related charges, local media reported yesterday.

    Jaycee Chan, a movie and television actor who is also known as Fang Zuming, was arrested along with his 23-year-old Taiwanese friend, movie star Kai Ko Chen-tung, on drug-related charges, Beijing News and Beijing Times newspapers reported.

    It was not clear when the two were detained, but neither has posted anything on their frequently updated Weibo social media accounts since last Tuesday, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.

    Chan and Ko join a growing list of celebrities, including mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwanese actors, who have been nabbed in Beijing’s widening campaign targeting celebrity drug abuse in the last two years. Chan could face potential criminal charges, Beijing News said.

    Officers who answered the phone at the Beijing police headquarters declined to comment, and haven’t replied to faxed questions as of yesterday evening, according to the Post.

    Ko’s management company said in a statement last night that it received a call from Beijing police at about 6:30 p.m., who informed the company that Ko will be detained for 15 days for drug use.

    “We are so sorry that Ko has failed the public. What he did is unforgivable and we are responsible for his misbehavior,” the statement said. “We apologize for that.”

    Jackie Chan did not make any comment yesterday.

    According to Chinese law, a person could be detained for 15 days for taking drugs and face criminal charges for allowing others to take drugs at his or her home, which could incur a jail term of less than three years.

    The clampdown on celebrity drug use has been ordered by the Chinese Government, which has instituted a zero-tolerance approach to the use of illegal substances. Those stars caught up in drug scandals have been made public examples and are facing threats to their future professional careers as State arts, film and culture bodies line up behind the government’s anti-drug policy.

    (Continued on P16)