Depardieu to hand back passport 法国影星放弃国籍

Depardieu's most recent movie role was in Life of Pi.

媒体英语会带大家一起学习 BBC 撰稿人在报道世界大事时常用到的单词和短语。

法国影星杰拉德·德帕迪约说他将交回他的法国护照以抗议社会党领袖、现法国总统弗朗索瓦·奥朗德最新推出的税收政策。这位63岁的法国国宝级演员近日宣布他将移居邻国比利时的一个小镇。请听以下来自BBC记者Christian Fraser 的报道：

He is prone to more than just the occasional outburst but this time Gerard Depardieu is at the centre of an almighty political storm. Last week, the actor announced he had quit Paris for a small town 800 yards from the French border; seemingly to dodge a 75% top rate of tax expected to come into force next year.

The Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said it was "shabby", and suggested he was shirking his patriotic responsibilities. "How pathetic is that?" writes the actor in today's Journal du Dimanche. "I am leaving because you believe success, creation, talent, anything different must be sanctioned."

The actor claims he has paid £120m ($194m) in taxes since beginning work as a printer at the age of 14. "And people more illustrious than me," he railed, "have gone into tax exile." Belgium is an attractive option for French people since it doesn't impose any additional taxes on wealth. And three months ago France's richest man Bernard Arnault applied for Belgian citizenship. The government might question their loyalties; but what sort of message is being sent to the outside investors France is hoping to attract, when some of the country's biggest names are heading for self-imposed exile?