Chinese film star is found not guilty of gang raping a woman in a Sydney hotel room

Chinese film star, his lawyers and even two JURORS break down in tears after he is found not guilty of raping a woman in a Sydney hotel room

  • Known as ‘China’s Hugh Jackman’, Yunxiang Gao was acquitted of all charges 
  • He was accused of raping and assaulting a TV crew member in March 2018
  • The woman claimed the attack took place at Sydney’s luxury Shangri-La hotel 
  • Mr Gao and his co-accused, TV producer Jing Wang, pleaded not guilty 

A top Chinese film star has been found not guilty of gang-raping a woman in a five-star Sydney hotel.

Known as ‘China’s Hugh Jackman’, Yunxiang Gao, 37, is one of the country’s most famous actors and wept as he was acquitted by a court on Thursday.

He was accused, along with producer Jing Wang, of raping a TV crew member in a luxury hotel room at the Shangri-La hotel in March 2018.

The pair had pleaded not guilty to multiple charges of rape and indecent assault.  

They both wept, alongside their legal team and even members of the jury, as the verdict was handed out – clearing the movie heavyweights of all charges.  

Top Chinese actor Yunxiang Gao (pictured) was acquitted of all charges and had pleaded not guilty

Their accuser, a China-born Sydney woman, had claimed she was held against her will in Mr Wang’s hotel.

She claimed the trio had spent the evening at a wrap party after shooting for Mr Gao’s Chinese TV series, Love in Aranya. 

Mr Gao was acquitted of five counts of sexual assault and two counts of indecent assault.

Mr Wang was found not guilty of sexual intercourse without consent, five counts of sexual assault, two counts of indecent assault and two counts of attempted sexual assault.

Chinese actor Yunxiang Gao (pictured, right) divorced his wife, actress Dong Xuan (left), while he was stuck in Australia where proceedings were ongoing

Chinese actor Yunxiang Gao (pictured, right) divorced his wife, actress Dong Xuan (left), while he was stuck in Australia where proceedings were ongoing

A jury last year failed to reach a verdict in the matter, but the pair were found not guilty in a retrial. 

The men were arrested days after the incident and have been forced to stay in Australia for the last two years as the trial went ahead.

Mr Wang spent the first 22 months after his arrest behind bars, but was granted bail in November after the first trial collapsed.   

‘Obviously its an emotional victory, everyone was crying,’ Rick Korn, Mr Gao’s defence lawyer, told the Australian.

The woman had previously told the jury that Mr Gao had laughed and slapper her as his producer friend raped her.

Chinese actor Yunxiang Gao (pictured, right) is seen leaving court after a hearing in December

Chinese actor Yunxiang Gao (pictured, right) is seen leaving court after a hearing in December

Giving tearful evidence about the alleged attack, she said she was forced to perform a sex act on Mr Wang, and then was slapped on the bottom by Mr Gao.    

CCTV footage showed Mr Gao leaving the room at 3.07am – an hour before the woman left.

‘(In China) no woman would report this kind of thing to the police and because they are famous people, they got power, they are wealthy,’ she told the jury. 

 She had been working as a crew member on Love in Aranya.

But Mr Gao’s barrister told the jury the woman ‘deliberately kept information from the police’. 

Murugan Thangaraj SC said what happened in the hotel was ‘entirely consensual’.

‘These are very serious allegations against two men with clean records,’ he said.

‘You will hear Gao is a gentle person and respectful to women.’   

The alleged incident was said to have taken place in a luxury room in Sydney's Shangri-La hotel (pictured)

The alleged incident was said to have taken place in a luxury room in Sydney’s Shangri-La hotel (pictured)

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