Chinese Celebrity Deaths Reignite Healthcare Debate

Two untimely celebrity deaths in China have reignited debates on social media about the efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine as well as attitudes towards mental health in the country.

On Friday, 28-year-old actor Kimi Qiao Renliang was found dead in a Shanghai apartment following a suspected suicide. Following the tragic death, the young actor’s agent told local media he had been diagnosed with depression in 2015.

Qiao’s agency put the blame for the Qiao’s depressed state on a heavy workload and said that rumor-mongering about the actor online last year had aggravated his mental condition.

Qiao first gained popularity after taking part in the 2007 talent show My Hero, winning second place to Monster Hunt (2015) star Jing Boran.

Citing people close to the actor, local media have reported that far from receiving any support for his depression, Qiao was told by an unnamed director during the shooting of a TV drama that he ought to be banned from acting on television due to his illness.

The number of people diagnosed with depression in China is estimated at least 40 million, according to local experts. Recent data from British science journal The Lancet showed that depression for 15- to 24-year-olds in China is on the rise.

The tragic news followed the untimely death of actress Kitty Xu Ting (pictured at top) who passed away after opting for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) instead of chemotherapy to treat her cancer.

Xu Ting, 26, was diagnosed with lymphoma in July and, against her family’s wishes, decided not to undergo chemotherapy because she feared it would be too painful or even hasten her death.

The Beijing actress was one of seven children who said she never wanted to be seen as a burden, and shied against her family spending money on her.

“Over the past five years, I worked very hard to support the large family. I made money to pay for my younger brother’s tuition fees, pay my parents debts, and even buy a house,” she posted.

“The pressure made me breathless.”

Confronting photos of the bruised and swollen body of the actress spread online following her death – the result of cupping, acupuncture, and the skin scraping therapy ‘gua sha.’

Some weeks after undergoing the TCM treatment, Xu's sister declared the effort has failed accusing the traditional Chinese medicine "master" overseeing it as being a "fraud."

Debate over whether she would have survived if she had turned to chemotherapy, raged online following the news of Xu’s death.

"Listen to me, Chinese medicine is absolutely useless to cure cancer, if you don't want to listen to me at least listen to a doctor," posted one of Ms Xu’s Weibo fans.

Hou Jiang, a reporter at the Beijing Evening News, said that claims traditional Chinese medicine can’t cure cancer were based on “ridiculous logic.”

“Even after undergoing chemotherapy, a lot of patients still die, will these people say western medicine is also a sham?” he argued.

“Both types of medicine have their own strengths and weakness,” another Weibo follower posted. “The point is you need to use them together.” 

Please refer to this previous post for resources for dealing with depression and thoughts of suicide for residents of Beijing.

Photos: photobucket.com, telegraph.co.uk, thenanfang.com