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Recently, Chinese actor Zhang Ling He came under fire after remarking during a game segment on the variety show Hello Saturday — which he attended to promote his latest drama Pursuit of Jade — that the portrait Tian Xi Wei was holding "looked like [it depicted him as] someone born in Southeast Asia." He was criticized for remarks perceived as reflecting "regional discrimination" and "stereotyping".
After the controversy escalated, on March 10, Zhang Ling He posted an apology in both Chinese and English in the comments section of one of his Instagram posts. He stressed that it was never his intention to cause any hurt or be disrespectful. He also wrote, "The last thing I would ever want is for anyone who supports me to feel sad because of this misunderstanding," and thanked his Southeast Asian fans for their support.
Zhang Ling He was born on December 30, 1997, in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China. Strong in science subjects — especially physics — he was admitted to the School of Electrical and Automation Engineering at Nanjing Normal University in 2016, where he majored in electrical engineering.
In 2019, he entered the acting industry and started rising to stardom after starring in dramas such as My Journey to You (2023) and Story of Kunning Palace (2023).
The Chinese actor is currently in the spotlight following the release of his historical drama Pursuit of Jade, which has drawn immense attention both in China and abroad.
Pursuit of Jade tells the story of butcher's daughter Fan Chang Yu (Tian Xi Wei) and Xie Zheng (Zhang Ling He), a fallen noble, who meet by destiny on a snowy day.
Chang Yu lost both her parents and strives to support her family, while Zheng hides his identity to avenge a blood feud from seventeen years ago. With each harboring their own motives, the two concoct a marriage of convenience. Though they initially joined hands to use one another for their own purposes, their alliance gradually blossoms into genuine emotions.
Stream Pursuit of Jade on Netflix, WeTV, iQIYI, and iflix.
Source: Hangzhou Daily
