Chinese actor Gao Yunxiang made headlines in 2018 when he was arrested in Sydney on allegations of sexual assault against an unnamed woman. He was then charged with five counts of sexual assault and two counts of indecent assault.

On Thursday (Mar 19), the actor was acquitted of all charges after a jury found him and film producer Wang Jing not guilty of rape and sexual assault. According to reports, the jury agreed that all sexual acts that happened were consensual.

Yunxiang, 37, clasped his hands together in front of his chest in relief after the verdict was read out. He declined comment when reporters approached him outside the district court building, but he was heard yelling, “Bulls***!” as he left the area.

Hours after the verdict was revealed, Yunxiang's lawyer, Zhang Qihuai, posted on Weibo that the prosecutors have no intention to appeal, and that the actor would be free to return to China.

Netizens raised the possibility of the woman filling a civil suit against him, however, observers have noted that it's unlikely that she would do so because of the costs involved. Additionally, as the case has been dismissed in the criminal courts, it's unlikely she would win the civil suit.

The lawyer added that Yunxiang misses his family badly, especially his three-year-old daughter who he has not seen in a long time. His ex-wife, Chinese actress Xuan Dong, divorced Yunxiang last March. Some believe that she did so to protect their assets as well as her career, although doubts have been cast over the credibility of this rumour. Yunxiang aand Xuan Dong were married for eight years.

Yunxiang was also sued for an undisclosed amount after his drama, Win The World (also known as The Legend of Ba Qing), was canned as a result of his court case. Filming for the series had already been completed and was pending for broadcast just before the scandal made the headlines.

Netizens have reacted strongly to the news, which some expressing pity at how the actor's career has been destroyed by the scandal. “Even if he was found not guilty, enough damage has been done over the past two years that people can’t help associating his name with sexual assault,” one wrote. Another added, “I won’t be watching any production with him in it. Even if he didn’t rape her, he still had sex with another woman when he was married with a young child.”

Yunxiang was reported to have left Sydney hours after the verdict was read out. Netizens expressed their surprise at his hasty departure, only to find out later that prosecutors had reportedly applied for his visa to be canceled. His lawyer then revealed that he decided to leave Australia as he would get into more trouble as an overstayer.

Yunxiang is believed to have booked a flight to Shanghai, although his lawyers have not confirmed nor denied the speculation.

But it's not quite the end of Yunxiang's troubles yet. According to the Australian media, he was reportedly stopped at the airport because he was not allowed to leave the country before his criminal case was concluded. However, because the courts had only given the verdict hours before, it was possible that their records were not updated yet.

It took over an hour of frantic phone calls from his lawyer to finally get clearance for the actor, and he managed to make it on to his flight.

Chinese media have reported that it is likely that he has already entered the country, although he will have to go through a mandatory 14-day quarantine because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Photos: PBE Media