Veteran Hong Kong actor John Chiang has denied that Taiwanese superstar Jay Chou is his illegitimate son, after an old claim made by his half-brother, director Derek Yee, resurfaced recently.

Yee, 62, is currently one of the judges on Chinese reality show Everybody Stand By 2, and his sharp comments have led to netizens digging out remarks he made in 2013.

Yee had then said that he was shocked when he first saw Chou, as the singer-songwriter looked like the younger version of his half-brother.

Yee even went to do a check and found that Chiang was indeed in Taiwan 10 months before Chou, now 41, was born in January 1979.

Chiang, 73, is married to former actress Maggie Li, 71, and the couple have two daughters and one son.

The veteran actor, whose English name is often wrongly assumed to be David Chiang, reacted to the old claim on Wednesday (Oct 28) when he attended a movie premiere with his son John Chiang Jr.

"I really hope it's true," he said jokingly. "I would have retired by now if he (Jay Chou) is my illegitimate son."

The younger Chiang then smiled and said "sorry" to his father who added: "He will not have to work too if Jay Chou were his brother."

The elder Chiang then said: "Many people have said we look alike, and I think it could be due to the angle of the photos."

Chou's resemblance to Chiang has been noted as far back as 2004 when he was filming the Hong Kong movie Initial D (2005). The Taiwanese superstar even invited Chiang to play his older self in the movie The Rooftop (2013), which Chou wrote and directed.

While the chatter has been interesting, Chou's fans have urged all parties to spare a thought for Chou's mother Yeh Hui-mei, and said such talk could be embarrassing for her. She is divorced from Chou's father Chou Yao-chung.