Speaking about Vancouver-born actor Chen for the first time since the incident, he said he did not hate him.

'We were classmates. I have known him for 13 years, longer than I have known my wife,' he was quoted as saying in a report on China's Sina website.

Tse, 28, was born in Hong Kong and grew up in Vancouver. When he went back to Hong Kong, he transferred to Hong Kong International School and met Chen there.

Asked if he would be friends with Chen again, he said: 'It's okay with me. Before this matter, the media compared me with Edison all the time. Did I ever say anything?

'I have known him for 13 years. Do you think I don't know what kind of person he is?'

As for his wife, he said he knew what he had signed up for when he went down on bended knee and asked her to marry him.

'Our images are similar. We stand by what we do. Everyone has a past but I trust her absolutely.'

They married in 2006 and have a one-year-old boy, Lucas.

Tse was in Beijing to plug his action film, Beast Stalker.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Nov 4, 2008.