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Where is X-Men's Fan Bingbing? Chinese actress vanishes leaving her 63 million social media followers questioning foul play

September 17, 2018
SINGAPORE - MAY 14:  Actor Hugh Jackman (R) and actress Fan Bingbing attend the "X-MEN: Days of Future Past" Southeast Asia Premiere on May 14, 2014 in Singapore.  (Photo by Nicky Loh/Getty Images)

She's one of China's most famous and highly paid movie stars. And she has vanished.

Fan Bingbing, who has played superhero Blink in 2014's X-Men: Days of Future Past and has starred in dozens of top grossing Chinese language films, hasn't been seen since early June, CNN reports.

Her official Weibo social media account hasn't been updated in nearly two months.

The bizarre disappearance follows an explosive newspaper article in May that accused her of tax evasion. And in September she was given the not-so-honourable distinction of ranking dead last out of 100 Chinese celebrities in a Beijing Normal University "social responsibility" report.

The timing of the bad publicity and the disappearance has led some experts to wonder aloud if the Communist Party has disappeared her.

CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 11: Actress Fan Bingbing attends the screening of 'Ash Is Purest White (Jiang Hu Er Nv)' during the 71st annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 11, 2018 in Cannes, France. (Photo by VCG)

Ms Fan, 37, has consistently ranked in the top 10 of the Forbes China Celebrity 100 list for the past twelve years - nabbing the top spot in 2013 and 2014. In addition to her movie career, she has starred in TV shows and dabbled in pop music.

She has over 63 million followers on social media.

Unlike their counterparts in Hollywood, celebrities in China rarely seek out publicity by generating salacious headlines, a China expert says.

"If you are a billionaire, then that is something that obviously you can enjoy to a certain extent," cyber analyst Fergus Ryan told CNN.

"But you've got to be very, very wary that you don't at any stage cross a red line of some sort and fall afoul of the Chinese Communist Party."

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