Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu dies from influenza-related pneumonia at age 48 during trip to Japan

Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu dies at age 48 during family trip to Japan

Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu has died at the age of 48 due to pneumonia complications from influenza.

According to Taiwanese news outlet CNA, her sister, Dee Hsu, confirmed the actress’ death through her agent on 3 Feb.

“During the New Year, our family travelled to Japan. Unfortunately, my dearest and kindest sister, Xiyuan, left us due to influenza and pneumonia,” Dee reportedly revealed.

“Shan~have a safe journey! Love you forever together remember forever,” she also added.

According to Taiwanese news outlet Now News, Ms Hsu’s family, who are still in Japan, will be holding the funeral and cremation ceremony in Japan and will be bringing her ashes back to Taiwan for a farewell ceremony.

Ms Hsu rose to popularity in Asia in 2001 when she became the main lead in the TV series Meteor Garden.

Source: Now News

Mother-in-law previously debunked rumours surrounding actress’ death

Rumours of Ms Hsu’s death began when a Hong Kong-based travel expert made a post about the death of a 48-year-old Taiwanese actress.

In the post, he dropped clues such as “active during the Meteor Garden era”, “having children”, and “cross-border marriage”, which netizens associated with Ms Hsu.

Netizens on Weibo also pointed out that Ms Hsu’s ex-husband, Wang Xiaofei, had changed his profile picture on Douyin to black, prompting many netizens to ask if Ms Hsu was okay.

However, Ms Hsu’s ex-mother-in-law Zhang Lan debunked these rumours during a live broadcast.

She revealed Ms Hsu’s whereabouts during the Spring Festival which were inconsistent with the whistleblower’s statement that she suddenly died of an acute illness in Japan.

According to Ms Zhang, Ms Hsu took her children to South Korea where she was remarried to celebrity DJ Koo to celebrate the festival.

Just last month, Ms Hsu was spotted “looking healthy” at a banquet held in Taipei by Taiwanese producer Wang Wei Zhong.

Taiwanese actress had history of epilepsy & coma

According to ETtoday, Ms Hsu had a history of epilepsy which caused her to be hospitalised many times.

When she gave birth to her second child in 2016, she fell into a coma due to lack of oxygen due to epileptic seizures.

At one point, Ms Hsu even lost her heartbeat and breathing and almost died on the operating table.

Also read: S’pore playwright Jonathan Lim dies aged 50, theatre community pays tribute to ‘wonderful friend & colleague’

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Featured image adapted from IMDB & My Asian Idols on Facebook.