BEIJING - Action star Jackie Chan said he has never used his connections to help his son out of detention, addressing for the first time rumours that he sought help for Jaycee when he was arrested over drugs in Beijing last August.
Chan said he even asked his lawyer not to try and shorten the young actor's detention.
"If Jaycee is released after a week, what would people think of us son and dad? "We are celebrities, so even more so, we have to follow the law," he told Xinhua news agency in an interview on Tuesday.
He stressed this again on Christmas Day while in Beijing promoting Dragon Blade, an action film set in the Han dynasty in which he stars along with American actors John Cusack and Adrien Brody and South Korean actor-singer Choi Si Won.
"I believe the law is fair," he told reporters.
Jaycee, who was arrested after testing positive for marijuana, was formally charged this week with allegedly providing a venue for drug users. Reports have said he may face a two-year prison term.
Chan told Xinhua his shock turned to shame when he first learnt of the arrest. He said he told his lawyer: "Slap him twice for me."
He said he felt more regretful about Jaycee's mother and his wife, former actress Lin Feng-jiao.
"She has not left the house in the past four months and not seeing people because she is punishing herself... Sometimes I see her writing and then crying, and I knew then she was writing to Jaycee," he said.
Jaycee, 32, was said to have read 100 books while in detention and Chan did not refute that, saying the young Jaycee has been asking his lawyer to buy him different kinds of books.
Jaycee is also getting a "strict education" in detention, having to handle chores such as washing his underwear and folding his blanket.
He said he learnt from the lawyer that Jaycee has become mature, suggesting by his comment that he has not been able to visit his son.
"I hope that in the future, he can become an anti-drug spokesman and tell his experiences to young people," Chan said.
Chan, 60, served as a goodwill spokesman for the China National Anti-Drug Committee in 2009, state media reported, promoting anti-drug education.
