Taiwanese film star Wang Talu was detained for questioning on Tuesday (Feb 18), police said, with local media reporting that he was under investigation for allegedly evading mandatory military service.
The actor, who is also known as Darren Wang, rose to fame in Taiwan for his role in the 2015 teenage romantic comedy Our Times.
He is also hugely popular in South Korea and China where news of his questioning by police on Tuesday was the top trending topic on China’s X-like Weibo.
Wang, 33, was under interrogation, an official in the Criminal Investigation Bureau told AFP.
“Relevant evidence” was seized from Wang’s home in the capital Taipei, the semi-official Central New Agency said.
Wang was one of 10 people questioned by police on Tuesday for allegedly evading military service, local broadcaster TVBS said.
He was also reportedly under investigation for the alleged forgery of a medical document.
The conscription age in Taiwan is 18, with deferment granted for higher education – though all men are required to serve in the military for one year by the time they turn 36.
Mandatory military service was extended from the previously obligatory period of four months, taking effect at the beginning of last year.
Wang previously told reporters that he intended to do his military service.
“There’s nothing to say, and I’m still so young, there’s no need to evade military service, when the time comes, I’ll serve the military,” Wang said, in 2015 footage aired by TVBS on Tuesday.
