BEIJING - Is it really an act of charity?

Detractors have been less than charitable, dismissing Fan Bingbing's recent trip to Tibet as just a ploy to repair her tainted image.

The actress, caught in a tax-evasion scandal last year, was ordered to pay 884 million yuan (S$177 million) in overdue taxes and fines.

According to Ming Pao, she was in Tibet to spearhead the work of her charity foundation to identify children in need of treatment for their heart problems.

Fan, 37, reportedly suffered for her efforts in the high-altitude place she visited. A friend posted a photo of the actress in bed, hooked to an oxygen device.

Amid the sceptics' comments, Fan has now defended herself on Weibo, saying: "(Cultivating a good self) is not in the temple, not in the incense, not in the ceremony, not in the scriptures, not in the words, but the action that comes from the heart, the wisdom you acquired by understanding the cause and effect."

"The children's lives and health are more important than doubt and insult," she noted.