It was a jaw-dropping moment for fans when Li Yundi, a household name in China, was accused of soliciting sex services. Yet observers spotlight the state-backed political force behind it. Li, 39, a celebrated pianist known as China’s “Piano Prince,” confessed to prostitution allegations following tip-offs from the public, state media said on the Twitter-like platform Weibo on Oct. 21. The relevant hashtag shocked netizens and garnered billions of views and comments on social media. The fallen star once won a gold medal at the International Chopin Piano Competition in 2000—the first musician deemed qualified in the past 15 years—when he was only 18. However, the then-youngest-ever gold medalist is now detained in Beijing, along with a sex worker he hired. “Something fishy is going on, either from the legal or the timing perspective, or to a broader image,” China commentator Qin Peng said as a guest speaker at NTD Television’s …