This is a cautionary tale for our 'like'-happy times. And the scariest thing is that it can happen to the best of us. Taiwanese actress Tiffany Ann Hsu, 34, found herself in hot soup recently when it was discovered that she had ‘liked’ a photo posted by a pro-Taiwanese independence account on Instagram. The issue of Taiwan’s independence has always been a source of contention between Taiwan and China and many Chinese netizens felt that Ann’s ‘like’ was a declaration of her support for independence.

The Chinese netizens started lambasting Ann on social media, even calling for her to be blacklisted from all Chinese productions.

And they may have succeeded.

According to the Taiwanese media, Ann, who is known for her work in Taiwanese idol dramas and movies like The Tag-Along, was supposed to start work on a new Chinese drama in May. But because of the sensitive nature of the scandal, the Golden Bell-winning actress, who famously dated Taiwanese heartthrob Ethan Ruan for eight years, has reportedly been dropped from the show. There’s now speculation that her once-promising career in China — she filmed back-to-back dramas there last year and was expected to see her popularity skyrocket this year — may have just been nipped in the bud by this fiasco. Yikes.

Ann has since apologised for her actions on Weibo, expressing her regret for “committing an unbelievably stupid mistake” and adding that “it was not a case of ‘slippery fingers, or an assistant accidentally clicking like or the work of a hacker.” She then explained that she has a habit of just liking pics and not reading the captions while scrolling through IG.

Ann, who has a Italian-American dad and Taiwanese mum, then said that her ancestors are from Anhui, Wuhu and that her family are now all living in Nanjing. “Growing up as a mixed kid, I’ve always needed to feel a sense of home and a sense of identity more than other people,” she added. “We are all family on both sides of the Straits. No matter where I go, I always have this feeling of being home,” she wrote. She finally ended her post by saying that she has closed her IG account, which had 1.4mil followers, so she can reflect on her mistakes.

A few hours later, Ann posted this handwritten note in which she wrote about how she “couldn’t sleep the whole night because [she] was filled with so much remorse,” and that “the first thought that came to [her] mind wasn’t about how [she] would be affected, but about how much inconvenience it would bring to other people.”

She then revealed her stance on the prickly political issue. “There is only one China in the world. I don’t support Taiwan’s independence. I hate for there to be a split. I like for everyone to get along.”

“Everyone can criticise me, scold me, because I really made a mistake. But now I have this opportunity to really say what I feel and to make my stance known. I am already very thankful. Lastly, I want to sincerely apologize to everyone. Sorry.”

Her message has been met with mixed reactions, with one netizen saying: “Well, at least she didn’t get her assistant to take the blame.”

Ann first shot to fame in 2005 after starring in idol drama It Started With A Kiss opposite Ariel Lin and Joe Cheng.

Ann in her 2015 horror movie hit The Tag-Along, which was the best-selling horror movie in Taiwan in a decade. The film spawned two sequels.

In 2016, Ann also starred in the season three premiere of American comedy Fresh of the Boat and news articles in the States had referred to her as Taiwan's biggest star . Here she poses with Ken Jeong who also had a cameo in the episode.

Ann famously dated Ethan Ruan for eight years before breaking up in 2015. The actor reportedly cheated on her four times during their time together. She is now said to be dating Taiwanese cinematographer Liu You Nian.