Paparazzi's immorality over singer's death

Chinese pop singer Yao Beina, left, sings a song with Liu Huan during the opening ceremony of the 10th China Golden Eagle TV Art Festival in Changsha, Hunan province, Oct 10, 2014 file photo. [Photo/Xinhua]

The light of star Yao Beina has been extinguished. The 33-year-old singer died of breast cancer last Friday in Shenzhen, Guangdong province.

She stood out in China CCTV's Young Singer TV Grand Prix in 2008, and later sung all the theme songs in the TV hit The Legend of Zhenhuan and the Chinese version of Let it Go in Disney's Frozen.

The celebrity's death at such an early age is not only a tragedy for her family and fans, but also a stark reminder of the danger of breast cancer. Movingly, the talented singer made a final wish to donate her corneas, which is quite rare in China due to traditional beliefs. Two patients returned to the world of light on Saturday thanks to her donation.

However, there is a darker side to her death as some reporters from the Shenzhen Evening Post dressed up as medical staff, it has been alleged with the help of the surgeon, and sneaked into the mortuary and took photos of her body. Such a despicable act was offensive to Yao's family, and Yao's employer Huayi Music said it plans to sue the Shenzhen tabloid and the surgeon. On Sunday the tabloid apologized for taking photos and deleted some, while the surgeon insisted he wasn't involved.

This has sparked fierce debate about the Chinese paparazzi over the weekend. Such a controversy is relatively new to China, but has existed in the West for a long time. In 1997, Princess Diana died in a car crash in Paris with her boyfriend Dodi Fayed, when the car they were in crashed as the driver sought to escape the paparazzi chasing after them.