Ai Fukuhara and her ex-husband escalate the turmoil: or face international arrest for "kidnapping"? How is the truth
Text / Guan Junran
Editor / Qi Fei
One day in August, the top floor of Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore offers panoramic views from the famous Sky Pool including Merlion. Wearing a blue swimsuit, Ai Fukuhara is playing with a little boy. At present, the Japanese table tennis star with super popularity is staging a "snatching war" with her ex-husband Jiang Hongjie. According to the Japanese media "Women's Weekly" reported on August 15, Ai Fukuhara faced losing all income in order to fight for the custody of her son, losing at least hundreds of millions of yen; And if Jiang Hongjie files a criminal complaint against Fukuhara Ai, Fukuhara Ai will also face international arrest.
In 2016, Ai Fukuhara and Jiang Hongjie registered their marriage, and a year later, Ai Fukuhara gave birth to a daughter, and in 2019, she gave birth to a son. They have starred in a newlywed reality show on a Chinese variety show and kissed 61 times in front of the camera, causing heated discussions. However, the two announced their divorce in July 2021, after the man was accused of cold violence, and the woman was exposed to cheating on her junior brother, who is currently confirmed to be living with her junior, but Ai Fukuhara denied cheating.
◆In March 2021, Ai Fukuhara was photographed staying in a hotel with a Yokohama boy.
Now, Fukuhara's social platform Instagram stopped before it was revealed to be derailed in February 2021. At that time, she announced the establishment of the new company. There are more than 4,000 comments below the post, with mixed reviews. When Fukuhara Aiyuan married Taiwan, she was praised by the Japanese media as "a good story of friendship between Japan and (China) Taiwan." But when the marriage scandal came out, she had already become the target of Japanese media attacks, and many media even said that she made "the image of Japanese women in Taiwan continue to deteriorate."
Her ex-husband accused him of "kidnapping" or was wanted internationally
"Give me back my son." On the afternoon of July 27 this year, Jiang Hongjie, wearing a black suit, held an emergency press conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo. He said that on July 20, he received the ruling of the Japanese court, and the husband won the case and obtained custody of the children.
◆On July 27, Jiang Hongjie held an emergency press conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan.
Next, he asked the lawyer to explain the situation, and he cried and became emotional as he listened. AT THE INTERVIEW NOTICE, JIANG WROTE IN ENGLISH THAT HE ACCUSED AI FUKUHARA OF "ABDUCTION."
The uproar began in the summer of 2022. Fukuhara Aihara planned to return to Japan for the summer vacation with his two children in early July, but this did not happen until July 23. On the same day, both lawyers and police officers came to the handover scene at the airport.
When it came time to hand over, Jiang Hongjie suddenly changed his tone and said, "You can't take the two children together." After more than an hour of negotiations, Jiang Hongjie still had a tough attitude, and said that "if this is the case, no one can be taken away." In the end, Ai Fukuhara could only take her son away.
The next day, Jiang Hongjie posted on social platforms, accusing Fukuhara of losing contact immediately after taking away the child: "I don't understand what kind of goodwill handover was yesterday? From last night to now, not answering the phone or responding to messages, this is called good to the child? ”
At a press conference a year later, Aiko Obuchi, a Japanese lawyer appointed by Jiang Hongjie, repeatedly used tough words like "kidnapping" and mentioned the possibility of suing Fukuhara for kidnapping minors. Jiang Hongjie put forward an appeal: "I hope to meet my son soon." I hope that the ruling of the Japanese court can be respected, and I hope that Ai Fukuhara can peacefully deliver her son. ”
◆On July 27, Aiko Obuchi, a Japanese lawyer appointed by Jiang Hongjie, repeatedly used tough words such as "kidnapping."
On July 20, the court ordered Ai Fukuhara to hand over the child to Jiang Hongjie. The court also allegedly issued a "preservation order," and Jiang Hongjie applied for enforcement on July 21.
On August 6, Aiko Obuchi confirmed to the media that the Tokyo court had found enforcement on Jiang Hongjie's side on August 2, and although Jiang Hongjie had shouted at a press conference that he did not want to go to the point of enforcement, he still believed that the possibility of Fukuhara Ai obeying the court's order was very low, so he applied to the court for enforcement.
In Japan, there are two types of enforcement, indirect enforcement and direct enforcement. The former needs to pay a certain amount per day, and force the other party to complete the return formalities through the fine. If the measure is ineffective, the latter is taken and the court bailiff demands the return of the child with an order. However, data shows that only 30% of victims bring their children back by force. If the child's whereabouts are unknown or unwilling to follow the other party, it is difficult for the court bailster to forcibly take the child.
In this regard, Fukuhara Ai's side has also spoken out many times. On July 27, Ai Fukuhara issued a statement through his lawyer refuting Jiang Hongjie's claims at the press conference, and also accused Jiang Hongjie of seriously violating the law by pushing the child to the front line of public opinion. The statement read: "Do not bully the child's mother by pushing it in front of the screen. ”
◆On July 27, Ai Fukuhara issued a statement through his lawyer refuting Jiang Hongjie's claim at the press conference that day.
On August 1, Fukuhara issued another statement in Japanese, bitterly criticizing Jiang Hongjie's convening of a press conference for violating her human rights, causing her to be deeply sanctioned by society and "buried by public opinion."
In this regard, Taiwan's "Entertainment Star" posted an article saying, "If Ai Fukuhara does not obey orders and 'exile' to another country, she may really become an internationally wanted criminal... Isn't that the scariest thing? ”
Some Japanese magazines believe that Fukuhara may move to Singapore to escape enforcement. "If she returns to Japan, she must hand over her son in a way that is enforced, but if she is in Singapore, Jiang Hongjie must file a new lawsuit in Singapore." Ai Fukuhara may have wanted to buy time for her son to strongly resist leaving him. After that, it will become difficult for Jiang Hongjie to forcibly take away his son, who has been living with his mother for a while. ”
Aiko Obuchi said that the possibility of Fukuhara going to Singapore had been envisaged. "We will file a deportation order to return the child to Japan before requesting extradition." "I'm worried that Jiang Hongjie will never see his son because it takes time to go through these procedures," she said. But no matter what country she hides in, we will not give up. ”
Some lawyers interpreted that if the criminal complaint is accepted and an investigation begins, then Fukuhara may be arrested. "Both have custody, and if Fukuhara takes the child away from Jiang Hongjie, he can indeed be accused of kidnapping a minor." In fact, such incidents occur from time to time. ”
According to Japanese media reports, in the past five years, in cross-border marriages with EU countries alone, about 10,000 Japanese mothers have divorced and brought their children back to China without the consent of the man, causing international disputes and frequently appearing on the pages of international news.
Or will you immigrate to Singapore? Income is still considerable
Will Singapore be at the centre of this marriage quagmire in the future?
On August 4, the Japanese weekly magazine FRIDAY published photos of Ai Fukuhara and her friends staying at an ultra-luxury hotel in Singapore. It is reported that the hotel costs at least 150,000 yen (1 yen is about 0.05 yuan) per night in peak season, and the pool is only for hotel guests.
◆On August 4, the Japanese weekly magazine "FRIDAY" published a photo of Ai Fukuhara and her son staying in an ultra-luxury hotel in Singapore.
The magazine quoted a Japanese guest at the scene as saying, "Since I called out my companion's name [in Japanese], I immediately alerted Ai Fukuhara. At this time, she was taking pictures with her son with female friends, looking very happy. Not knowing if she heard our conversation, Ai Fukuhara immediately put on her sunglasses and turned her back to us. ”
According to this guest, there was also a long-haired man accompanying Ai Fukuhara. "He was sitting on a beach chair, gesturing and shouting 'ready to leave the pool'. He was probably in his 30s and his skin was tanned. The next morning, the long-haired man and Fukuhara played in the pool again, so it is likely that they lived here. ”
Since last year, Ai Fukuhara has been photographed appearing in Singapore many times. In the summer of 2022, some media found that the location displayed on Fukuhara Ai China's Weibo was "Singapore". Another Japanese living in Singapore revealed, "Ai Fukuhara seems to have sent her child to kindergarten in Singapore." ”
Before the divorce, Fukuhara bought an apartment worth 300 million yen in Tokyo. According to Japanese media reports, this spring, she is looking for tenants and plans to rent them out for 2 million yen per month. As a result, the media believe that Fukuhara's income has plummeted and that there is great pressure to repay loans.
In April of this year, Ai Fukuhara appeared for the first time after a long time and appeared on a special program on TBS TV in Japan. She plays table tennis with former Japanese men's table tennis team player Hayabusa Mizutani and participates in the annual mini-marathon. However, after the show was broadcast, netizens evaluated her more negatively.
◆In April 2023, in the special program "All-Star Thanksgiving 23 Spring" broadcast on TBS TV in Japan, Ai Fukuhara appeared in the media for the first time after a while.
In June, Fukuhara stepped down as an outside director of the company owned by the professional table tennis team "Ryukyu Asteeda". Currently, in addition to being in charge of her own company's business, she is also a visiting associate professor at Aomori University, the general manager of WTT Japan, and a table tennis T-League promotion ambassador.
On June 7, Ai Fukuhara gave her first lecture as a visiting associate professor at Aomori University. It is reported that about 300 students attended the lecture. In the meantime, Ai Fukuhara talked about her career as a table tennis player.
◆On June 7, 2023, Ai Fukuhara completed a public lecture for the first time as a visiting associate professor at Aomori University.
Some advertising agency personnel estimate that the annual salary of the general manager of WTT Japan is about 12 million yen; The annual salary of T-League Ambassadors is about 24 million yen. Part-time teachers at universities in Japan earn about 4 million yen a year, and although Ai Fukuhara only holds classes once in two years, she is like an advertising sign for the school, and her annual salary is estimated to be 5 million to 6 million yen.
Although Ai Fukuhara has hardly appeared on television due to the affair and divorce scandal, she still receives commentary jobs for the Tokyo Olympics and is said to be paid at least 1 million yen for one appearance.
◆Ai Fukuhara worked as a commentator for the Tokyo Olympics.
When she married Jiang Hongjie, it became a topic of conversation because of the disparity in income. At that time, Jiang Hongjie's annual income was only 4 million yen, and Fukuhara Ai's income was 37 times his income. It is not clear whether the couple made a division of property when they divorced, but even if there were, the impact on Fukuhara should not have been great. According to Japanese media estimates, Fukuhara's current annual income adds up to at least 120 million yen.
Lawyer: Joint custody is difficult
In the divorce statement of Ai Fukuhara and Jiang Hongjie, there is a sentence that attracts attention from the outside world: "As for our children, we will have joint custody, so we will make every effort to reduce the impact on the children as much as possible." The term "joint custody" became a buzzword on Japanese social media and appeared on some news programs. Because in Japan, the law stipulates that the custody of children after divorce belongs to the individual, not to joint custody. There are many cases where couples fight for custody, but about ninety percent of them are the mother who has custody.
◆Ai Fukuhara and Jiang Hongjie's former love photos.
Since 2018, Japan's Ministry of Justice has officially discussed the introduction of a joint custody system in which both parents have parental authority after divorce. The current Japanese Civil Code introduced a system of sole custody in which one parent had parental authority after divorce, and planned to make it easier for both parents to participate in the upbringing of their children by introducing joint custody.
Of the developed countries, only Japan uses sole custody. Under the current system, the parent who does not have custody is a registered "other" and access to the child is restricted. Japan's Ministry of Justice said that divorce is mainly by mutual agreement, and in most cases the court will not intervene in the custody decision. If you want to introduce optional joint guardianship, how to get the court deeply involved in guardianship has become a problem.
"For Ai Fukuhara and Jiang Hongjie, it is indeed difficult to achieve joint custody." Hiromi Ikeuchi, a Japanese commentator on family issues, argues that "at the time of the divorce, Fukuhara was living in Taiwan, so according to Taiwanese law, she and her husband should have joint custody." But considering the child's growth, this actually comes with a lot of disadvantages. For example, visitation rights are equally distributed, and children must separate classes from holidays, which can cause chaos in children's lives, such as not being able to see friends at school during the summer vacation. ”
"Ai Fukuhara may be considering obtaining sole custody in Japan, and if there is a disadvantage to the child living with the father, then her practice does not fall under the category of kidnapping." Hiromi Ikeuchi added.
Another Japanese media reported that because Taiwan has not acceded to the Hague Convention, it is difficult for the final judgment to take effect quickly. The Hague Convention stipulates that a child under the age of 16 who has been taken abroad shall, in principle, be ratified if the parent in the place of residence requests the restitution of the child. If both spouses are parties to the Hague Convention, they can be enforced after an express judgment of the court, in principle, in accordance with the judgment. However, due to the fact that Taiwan, where Jiang Hongjie lives, has not acceded to the Hague Convention, the war between the two has now escalated.