Chinese entertainer Zhang Yiyang, accused of murdering his 16-year-old girlfriend in 2022, was executed on December 18 in 2024, according to a detailed investigation report recently released by the Intermediate People's Court of Xianyang in North Shaanxi Province. According to media report, this marks the first execution of an entertainer in China's entertainment industry.

According to the court's report, Zhang began dating the victim in September 2021. However, a dispute arose when his girlfriend proposed breaking up. Zhang had repeatedly threatened her with suicide and on February 26, 2022, Zhang attacked her with a folding knife in a wooded area in Xingping, Shaanxi, rupturing the girl's left carotid artery, jugular vein, trachea and esophagus, which ultimately led to her death due to massive bleeding.

After the muder, Zhang took away the girl's mobile phone and returned home by taxi, changing his cloth, discarding the weapon and related items in a reservoir to destroy evidence.

On the next day, Zhang attempted to commit suicide at a hotel but failed. He was discovered by hotel staffers, who reported to the police and sent him to the hospital. As a result, the case came to light, and the police subsequently arrested him.

After a court trial, Zhang was sentenced to death for "intentional homicide" and was deprived of political rights for life. After the first trial verdict, Zhang appealed, but the second court upheld the original judgment.

The police said that Zhang exhibited paranoid emotional and psychological conditions, with the motive for the crime stemming from long-standing resentment and an inability to accept the breakup, ultimately leading to the tragedy. The court believed that Zhang's actions were cruel and had produced a severe negative impact on society. He was sentenced to death, and the execution was carried out by shooting on December 18,2024.

Born in May 1990, Zhang had been in the industry for many years but remained relatively unknown, but due to his conviction for murder, he has become the first celebrity in the Chinese entertainment industry to be sentenced to death, media reports said.

South Korean Consulate General in Wuhan recently sent a letter to the city of Zhangjiajie in Central China's Hunan Province, expressing its highest respect for a bus driver who demonstrated exceptional professionalism by executing emergency measures to protect South Korean tourists in the coach at a critical moment before losing consciousness. The letter extended deep condolences to the driver's bereaved family, reported the Zhangjiajie Daily on Thursday.

The consulate stated that it learned of the incident, during which 11 South Korean tourists narrowly escaped harm in Zhangjiajie, a popular tourist destination, through local reports by the Zhangjiajie Daily, which was also covered by major South Korean TV networks and newspapers.

According to the newspaper, on the evening of June 29, Xiao Bo - the bus driver who was also a military veteran - was transporting 11 South Korean tourists and a guide back to Zhangjiajie. As the vehicle approached the viaduct on the Zhangnan Expressway in Yongshun county, Xiao suddenly fell critically ill. In his final moments before losing consciousness, he mustered extraordinary resolve to pull up, engage the handbrake and secure the vehicle, ensuring the safety of the passengers onboard. Despite three days of intensive medical efforts, Xiao succumbed to a brainstem hemorrhage and passed away on July 2. 

Xiao was posthumously honored as "Zhangjiajie Good Samaritan" by the city government, and his deed has drawn widespread acclaim. 

The report also noted that the letter from the consulate specifically acknowledged a local travel service company and its representative Kim Sung-joon for their consistent dedication to ensuring the safety of South Korean tourists, and a tour guide Kim Kwang-il, who acted swiftly and decisively on-site to prevent a major casualty accident.

The letter praised their professionalism as exemplifying transnational respect for life, attributing such standards to Zhangjiajie's longstanding emphasis on tourist safety. The consulate reaffirmed its commitment to close cooperation with Zhangjiajie authorities to enhance safety measures for South Korean visitors.

The China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Panda issued a stern statement on Friday, opposing online harassment targeting its staff and distorting the image of giant panda protection, and resisting the extreme fan culture, or "fanquan," warning that it will pursue legal action against individuals responsible for smearing its personnel and operations.

Since 2024, thanks to joint efforts by public security and cyberspace authorities, the online environment surrounding giant pandas has shown signs of improvement. However, we are deeply saddened to see that some individuals have recently continued to manipulate public opinion both domestically and overseas, smearing China's symbol of friendship—the giant panda—and relentlessly cyberbullying frontline panda staff online, said the statement. 

The center stated that whether under the guise of "public oversight," through online abuse and fan mobilization, or by fueling division to generate hype and pressure professionals to treat giant pandas merely as "cute pets," such unscientific and irrational online frenzies have misled large segments of the public—especially young people—and seriously infringed on the legal rights of staff, violating relevant laws and regulations. 

These actions, it emphasized, are a blatant affront to China's giant panda conservation efforts.

While welcoming public engagement and constructive supervision, the center firmly opposed extreme or illegal actions in the name of "love," rejected the intrusion of "fanquan" culture into wildlife conservation, and stated it would not accept any individual or group engaging in such behavior to be involved in its work.

The statement named several staff members who have become targets of online abuse. The center said it has initiated evidence collection and is working with authorities to hold offenders accountable through legal means. "There will be zero tolerance," it said.