上海滩

Moneybags for Some, Triumphant Return for Others: Fates of Five Presidents Forced to Flee Their Post_我的网站

一 |     

    Chinese actress Luo Xinyuan played Huang Rong, a beloved wuxia heroine, at Hengdian World Studios. Photo: Courtesy of Luo XinyuanAs China's once-thriving live-action short drama industry looses speed due to the weight of AI-generated content and shrinking investment, a growing number of young actors who once starred in micro-dramas are moving to a different kind of stage: playing roles at cultural tourist attractions. 
There, they play martial arts heroes and folk characters for live audiences, finding steadier income and real-time connection with viewers. 
"Earning a living with your own hands is nothing to be ashamed of," actress Luo Xinyuan told the Global Times, even as many still hold out hope, waiting for good scripts.
The migration reflects a stark reality. In the first quarter of 2026, AI micro-dramas accounted for more than 95 percent of all micro-dramas released industry-wide, sharply squeezing the space for live-action productions. 
By July, pay for leading actors had shrunk by over 50 percent, mid-tier actors by more than 80 percent on average, and daily wages for bottom-rung extras had fallen into double digits, China's CCTV reported.
Luo, a 21-year-old actress, experienced the downturn firsthand. She came to Hengdian, China's largest film and television production base, to shoot short dramas. "When I first arrived, there were many crews preparing in one hotel. Now sometimes there are only one or two, or none," she told the Global Times. 
This May, she began playing the role of Huang Rong, a beloved wuxia heroine, at Hengdian World Studios. Her daily routine includes interactive stage competitions, parades and live audience interactions, working nearly 13 hours daily during the peak summer season.
"It's tiring but fulfilling," Luo said. "There are no scripts here. It's more about playing with visitors face to face." The change has eased her anxiety. "When I was filming, I kept worrying about the next job. Now I feel more stable."
Yin Jiaxuan, 25, took a different route. He started his career as a professional character performer at major theme parks, starring in immersive shows based on popular game and film IPs before transitioning to short dramas and online movies in mid-2024. 
At the industry's peak, he moved seamlessly between sets. 
"One crew wrapped, and the next was already arranged. I'd go straight to makeup the next day and start filming the day after," he said. Now he keeps both identities, taking film roles when they come and returning to scenic spots during holidays.
Yin rejects the stigma that screen acting is the only proper path. 
"Screen acting is seen as the professional main road, while street-level performance is treated as amateur work. This invisible prejudice has trapped many performers," he said. Yet the tangible stage offers something the camera cannot. 
"Performance comes from life and is higher than life - that is the core of film creation. But now I realize that beyond artistic expression, performance is about building human connections."
Both actors shared that theme park characters must do more than act; they must draw tourists into the scene, delivering emotional value on demand. Visitors come to the scenic spot not just to sightsee, but "to step into a fantasy."
    Yin Jiaxuan Photo: Courtesy of Yin JiaxuanScenic areas are reaping the benefits. Media outlets have reported that in Kaifeng's Wansui Mountain Martial Arts City, Central China's Henan Province, tourists who interacted with these characters stayed an average of 2.3 hours longer per day. 
Every extra 30 minutes of stay raises the probability of secondary consumption by about 25 percent, according to local data. Revenue jumped from about 80 million yuan ($11.86 million) in 2022 to 1.27 billion yuan in 2025. 
While Hengdian World Studios has used characters to boost repeat visits, with annual pass holders returning multiple times "for a specific character."
Cultural scholar Yu Jinlong told the Global Times that the influx of trained actors is upgrading immersive tourism. 
"In the past, theme park characters were mostly amateurs doing costume photos. Now professional actors can build complete characters, improvise and connect storylines, turning scenic spots into open-air theaters," he said. 
Yu pointed out the uniqueness of China's character boom compared with global immersive entertainment. 
"Unlike Western theme parks that rely heavily on mature imported IPs and standardized performances, China's scenic character culture is rooted in local wuxia (martial hero) history and folk customs, encouraging personalized improvisation. Many local scenic spots create hit immersive projects with small investments, forming a unique online-offline communication loop via social media," Yu said. 
As China's cultural consumption shifts from sightseeing to participation, Yu said the young actors swapping short drama sets for scenic spots may be shaping a new hybrid career for the country's entertainment workforce.
For Luo, the recognition from visitors is a reward in itself. 
"There are tourists who travel from far away just to see my performance. It feels good to be recognized," she said. "Actually, I'm still exploring too. But I think you should do what you love, as long as you have the ability."
。    The ouster of Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has roused substantial global media attention, particularly in light of the colorful images coming out of the country of protesters storming his opulent Colombo residence and turning it into a tourist attraction, posing for selfies, and organizing pool parties and cookouts.,But the chaos in Colombo isn’t the first time in the last decade or so that a head of state has been ousted from office in a time of crisis and forced to flee, with the last dozen years witnessing at least five comparable cases.,Ashraf Ghani’s Bags of Money,Last August, a ten-day blitzkrieg offensive by the Taliban* to capture cities in the midst of the NATO withdrawal culminated in the fall of Kabul and the collapse of the Afghan government. President Ashraf Ghani, the US-educated academic-turned president, fled the country he ruled at the West’s behest for seven years.,Ghani evacuated Kabul on August 15, the same day that Taliban fighters entered the city, and eventually ended up in the United Arab Emirates, where he took refuge. Ghani apologized to his countrymen and women for bolting, saying that leaving the capital “was the most difficult decision” of his life and that he took it to avoid a repeat of the bloody street fighting witnessed in the city between government and Taliban forces in the 1990s. In addition, he said, his security team had advised him not to stay due to the risk of assassination or capture.,The Russian Embassy in Kabul painted a different story, alleging that Ghani fled the city in a convoy of vehicles stuffed with so much cash that it could not fit in a helicopter which took him out of the country. UK media later alleged that Ghani may have sought to smuggle as much as $169 million in cash out of Kabul, with a former bodyguard later confirming that the ex-president’s entourage was carrying “many big bags” containing “hundreds of millions, perhaps billions of dollars.”,Ghani has categorically rejected the allegations against him, and has said that he would welcome an international investigation to clear his good name.,AfghanistanEx-Afghan President Ghani Says He Was Made 'Scapegoat' for Fleeing, Blames Trump - Report 31 December 2021, 03:27 GMT,Evo Morales’ Happy Ending,On November 10, 2019, Bolivia’s long-serving democratic socialist president Evo Morales was forced to step down after weeks of protests sparked by an election whose results were disputed by the country’s US-backed opposition. Characterizing the crisis as a “coup” and fearing he would be killed by assassins hired out by his enemies, Morales fled to Mexico, where he was granted asylum by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.,The Trump administration hailed Morales’ ouster, with the US president tweeting that the unrest sent “a strong signal to the illegitimate regimes in Venezuela and Nicaragua that democracy and the will of the people will always prevail.”,But the anti-Morales’ plot’s victory was short-lived. Immediately after touching down in Mexico, Morales vowed that he’d remain in politics, and that his “fight” against “discrimination and humiliation” would continue.,In late 2019, after the election victory of leftist forces in Argentina, Morales traveled to that country, where he was granted asylum. In November 2020, after new elections in his home country saw the victory of Luis Arce, his former finance minister, Morales triumphantly returned to Bolivia. Today, although he is not president, Morales remains a major force in Bolivian politics, consistently attacking “Yankee imperialism” and recently calling on Bolivia and Argentina to join forces to become a global lithium-producing superpower.,The fate of his adversaries has not been so bright, with Jeanine Anez, the right wing politician who took over after Morales’ ouster, recently sentenced to ten years in prison for her role in the 2019 coup.,© Photo : Twitter / @evoespuebloFormer Bolivian President Evo Morales during his triumphant return to his home country in November 2020.Former Bolivian President Evo Morales during his triumphant return to his home country in November 2020.© Photo : Twitter / @evoespueblo,Yemen’s Hadi,In 2012, Yemeni politician Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi seemed to have the world at his feet. Succeeding President Ali Abdullah Saleh, whom he faithfully served as vice president starting in 1994, Hadi won the February 2012 presidential elections with an impressive 100 percent of the vote, running as the sole candidate. He proceeded to initiate a US- and Saudi-supported reform program aimed at transforming Yemen into a federal model of government under which six regions would enjoy large-scale political autonomy. Hadi also supported ramping up cooperation with Washington to fight piracy in the Gulf of Aden, and al-Qaeda** cells attempting to set up shop in Yemen’s sparsely populated northeastern territories.,Hadi’s reforms, allegations of corruption, and the ill-fated decision to end fuel subsidies in 2014 proved fatal, and between late 2014 and early 2015, much of the country was overrun by the Houthis, an Islamist, social justice-oriented political and militant movement dominant in the country’s populous western provinces. In January 2015, Hadi left his presidential palace in Sana’a for the last time, and, without resigning, flew to Saudi Arabia.,© AP Photo / Hani MohammedShiite Houthi tribesmen hold their weapons as they chant slogans during a tribal gathering showing support for the Houthi movement, in Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday Sept. 21, 2019Shiite Houthi tribesmen hold their weapons as they chant slogans during a tribal gathering showing support for the Houthi movement, in Sanaa, Yemen, Saturday Sept. 21, 2019© AP Photo / Hani Mohammed,Two months later, in March 2015, a Saudi-led military coalition began a military operation in Yemen aimed at restoring Hadi to power. Seven years on, the coalition has made little progress, and the impoverished southern Arabian nation remains mired in a deep political, military, economic and humanitarian crisis. Meanwhile, the Houthis have counterattacked by launching drone and missile strikes targeting Saudi infrastructure, military bases, airports, oil facilities, missile defense systems and cities, with no amount of sophisticated US-made air defense hardware seeming sufficient to stop the attacks.,As for Hadi, the exiled president resigned from the post in April, transferring power to an eight-member ‘presidential leadership council’ tasked with negotiating a permanent ceasefire with the Houthis.,Saudi Arabia ‘Pushed’ Yemen’s Hadi to Resign, Placed Him on House Arrest - WSJ17 April, 22:22 GMT,Ukraine’s Yanukovych,Of all the ejections from office featured in this list so far, perhaps none have been more consequential to the geopolitical instability being experienced by the world today than that of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych.,Yanukovych handcrafted the crisis which would culminate in his ouster in the winter of 2013 by pulling a major political U-turn and rejecting an association agreement with the European Union in favor of closer ties with the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union. The decision prompted pro-EU protesters to flood the center of Kiev, with demonstrators establishing tent encampments and occupying the heart of the city – the Maidan Nezalezhnosti (lit. ‘Independence Square’).,Protests continued for weeks, with Yanukovych making concessions under EU pressure, accepting the resignation of the government of Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov in late January, and negotiating with an increasingly emboldened opposition to try to resolve the crisis.,On February 20, protests turned bloody, with 49 demonstrators and four police officers killed by mysterious snipers in a single day. On February 22, just a day after reaching an EU-backed agreement on the settling the crisis through early elections, Yanukovych fled Kiev in fear for his life, traveling east and slipping across the border into Russia, where he was offered refuge. Pro-European forces in Ukraine’s parliament drafted a resolution to strip Yanukovych of power, claiming he had “withdrawn from his duties in an unconstitutional manner.” From Russia, Yanukovych blasted the new authorities, and characterized his ouster as a coup d’état.,Kiev, Washington Responsible for Failure of Minsk Peace Agreements, Ukraine's Former President Says14 March, 15:17 GMT,Tunisia’s Ben Ali,On January 14, 2011, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s 24-year reign as Tunisian leader came to an end, with the president and his family fleeing the country to Saudi Arabia after weeks of protests which would hail the start of the so-called ‘Arab Spring’. The ‘Tunisian Revolution’ was driven by long-standing grievances among Tunisians about corruption, high unemployment, inflation, and general poor living conditions, as well as limitations on freedom of speech. The protests were sparked by 26-year-old street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi, who set himself on fire in the street after police confiscated his wares when he failed to pay a bribe, and after his plea for help from the local governor was left unanswered. The young man's act, which would cause over 100 copycat immolation attempts, would spark a month of protests which culminated in Ben Ali’s ouster.,After his ejection, the Tunisian president would live to a ripe old age of 83, passing away in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in September 2019. But the unrest which his removal sparked would end up transforming much of the Middle East and engulfing some of its countries in crisis which continue to reverberate to this day. In 2011, major protests rocked Algeria and Yemen, and led to the overthrow of the government of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt. In Libya, NATO lent a ‘helping hand’ to anti-government rebels by launching a campaign of airstrikes against forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, culminating in his ouster and televised murder, and turning Libya into a failed state. The contagion of the Arab Spring also spread to Syria, which was turned into a breeding ground for jihadist militants who flocked to the country from the region and across the globe to take part in the unsuccessful US, Turkish, Saudi and Qatari-backed campaign to try to oust the government of Bashar Assad.,Ousted Tunisian President Ben Ali Buried in Saudi Arabia - Reports21 September 2019, 17:53 GMT,* An organization subject to United Nations sanctions for terrorist activities.,** A terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries.。

Current article:http://ph5.guaxiazaopinduan.cfd/ir4d/20260826/939840.html

Published on:00:00:00