SubscribeLog in
Connect with us

China Celebs

Six Years after Chinese Pop Star Zhang Muyi (24) Declared Love for 12-Year-Old Miki Akama, They’re Now Tying the Knot

Zhang Muyi became her music coach when Miki Akama was only 8 years old. A decade later, the couple announces their wedding on Weibo.

Boyu Xiao

Published

on

Six years after Chinese pop star Zhang Muyi (1987) publicly declared his love for the then 12-year-old music pupil Miki Akama (2000), the two have now announced their wedding on Weibo. Although some say their love is meant-to-be, others say it is a case of pedophilia.

In 2012, it made international headlines when the then 24-year-old Chinese popstar Zhang Muyi publicly declared his love for 12-year-old Canada-born model Miki Akama.

The two met when…

Boyu Xiao is an MPhil graduate in Asian Studies (Leiden University/Peking University) focused on modern China. She has a strong interest in feminist issues and specializes in the construction of memory in contemporary China.

Continue Reading
13 Comments

13 Comments

  1. Zee

    April 7, 2018 at 9:38 am

    This is completely horrifying

  2. Xing

    April 7, 2018 at 9:22 pm

    This is creepy and a total abuse of power. This should have been shit down years ago.

  3. Steve

    April 12, 2018 at 12:19 am

    As long as they have not consummated before she reaches legal age….should be no concern. Age is just a number right.

    • Dan Pham

      April 23, 2018 at 7:38 am

      And jail is just a room

  4. Tanzim Adel Choudhury

    April 22, 2018 at 10:00 am

    Nahh, this is a CLEAR CASE of Child grooming…. u can’t PROVE that the guy didnt “do things” in-private……this is DANGEROUS!!!!

    where the Parents of the Two!?

    • Leon

      May 26, 2018 at 12:55 am

      Where are the parents? Celebrating the wedding and proud of their bloodline.

      How horrifying to see normal male partner preferences in public! Let’s face it! There is not a single straight male who wouldn’t feel attracted to a teenager.

      They liked each other, they fell in love, and now they are married. Healthier than Western culture where nice girls end up with trailer park losers and men are sick and tired of roasties with no worth.

      Age does not matter, personality does, and Muyi is a better man than most Westerners. He is even above me!

  5. winona

    May 14, 2018 at 1:57 pm

    i still react with disgust when i hear about these two. i find it really weird how in that guy’s entire life, he didn’t meet a single woman who he thought was compatible to be with, but instead saw his ideal romantic partner in a TWELVE YEAR OLD. she was still a CHILD, a children’s mindset and way of thinking is so underdeveloped, i don’t know how he could have ignored the fact that she was a child.
    however it seems that the time spent together have really allowed them both to feel completely comfortable with each other and develop a deep trust. although i don’t get what you could talk about with a TWELVE yr old — something they can completely understand and doesn’t taint their worldview with negativity.

    • Leon

      May 26, 2018 at 12:52 am

      Probably they talked about their likes, hopes, and dreams. Both loved music, that brought them together. And much likely Muyi was so emotionally stable he managed to benefit Miki when things got rough.

    • Unbelievable

      June 5, 2019 at 10:22 pm

      The part that confuses me the most is how a twelve year old girl could be interested in a guy twice her age. I mean, I get that kids are whimsical and sometimes develop “crushes” on older guys (this apparently happens😵). But the operative word here is “whimsical”, meaning that those feelings fade with maturity.

  6. Leon

    May 26, 2018 at 12:48 am

    Despite what these blind fools say. I wish good luck to the couple. I am pretty much sure their relationship is healthier those of anyone commenting here.

    Age is irrelevant, and in fact, once one hits puberty, science says, one is ready to be in a relationship. Better to be in a healthy relationship with someone of different age than in a toxic one with someone close in age.

    Actually let me rephrase that. We have been lied to. For a century we have been told age difference is wrong, especially if the woman is younger. The truth is otherwise. It is normal and healthy unless one of the parties has not reached puberty.

  7. Yhi

    May 29, 2018 at 5:51 am

    This is super sweet.

  8. Unbelievable

    June 5, 2019 at 10:18 pm

    Wwwoowww….okay so my first reaction is “ew ugh, why”. Though when I think about it, there isn’t anything technically wrong with this. People keep talking about “pedophilia”, but this guy waited six years for her to turn 18, and stayed with her all that time…and now they’re married. Pedophilia is an attraction to kids, usually in a physical sense. Obviously I have basically no knowledge of this situation other than the article here, but it doesn’t appear to be as “sick” as people claim. Even so, the fact that a 24 year old guy developed feelings for a 12 year old girl makes absolutely zero sense to me. I mean, if it’s real and it works, then cool. But last I checked, 12 year old girls weren’t about dating adults. Though I guess it’s lucky that he wasn’t some 40 year old guy, like that one story.😒

  9. miv

    November 11, 2021 at 4:39 am

    Grooming and disgusting. How do you look at a 12 year old in a romantic way? He met her at 8. So was he also thinking of her in romantic ways even then? Probably and that’s not something to praise.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

China AI

AI Actress Ad Pulled, Baihaitun Disrupts Shanghai and Cicada Meme Bugs Huawei

Published

on

By

Welcome to China Trend Watch (Week 32–33 | 2026), where I bring you the latest trends, memes, and debates driving conversation across Chinese social media. I’m Manya Koetse, a sinologist specializing in Chinese digital culture.

 


 

🗞️ QUICK SCROLLS

 

📈 Is China’s AI price war over?After a period of offering as much as possible to users at relatively low prices, Chinese AI (LLM) companies are now raising their prices. Last week,…

Continue Reading

China Celebs

Quiet Nationalism, Loud Statements, and Nanjing Memorial Day

From war memory to viral eggs, salty cakes, an unfortunate dinner party and farewell to an iconic actress.

Manya Koetse

Published

on

🔥 China Trend Watch — Week 50 (2025)
Part of Eye on Digital China. This edition was sent to paid subscribers — subscribe to receive the next issue in your inbox.


Welcome to the Eye on Digital China newsletter. This is the China Trend Watch edition — a quick catch-up on real-time conversations.

I’ve rounded up my latest China trip that brought me from Chongqing to Nanjing, Wuhan, Zaozhuang and Beijing, for some…

Continue Reading

Subscribe

Eye on Digital China is a reader-supported publication by
Manya Koetse (@manyapan) and powered by What’s on Weibo.
It offers independent analysis of China’s online culture, media, and social trends.

To receive the newsletter and support this work, consider
becoming a paid subscriber.

Manya Koetse's Profile Picture

Get in touch

Have a tip, story lead, or book recommendation? Interested in contributing? For ideas, suggestions, or just a quick hello, reach out here.

Popular Reads