Martial arts star Donnie Yen recently celebrated Hong Kong’s handover to China, sparking heavy criticism from fans and renewed calls to #BoycottMulan.
Pro-Beijing post: Yen, who plays Commander Tung in Disney’s upcoming live-action Mulan remake, becomes the film’s second cast member along with lead Liu Yifei to spark backlash from fans.
- On July 1, Yen took to Facebook to mark Hong Kong’s handover day, which commemorates the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People’s Republic of China in 1997 and the eventual establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
- “Today is the celebration day for Hong Kong returned to motherland China 23 years [sic],” the Chinese-born actor wrote.
- He also fondly remembered performing for Chinese President and Communist Party Chairman Xi Jinping back in 2017, calling it a “memorable night.”
- In Hong Kong, the anniversary of the July 1 handover is celebrated as the Establishment Day and marked with “fireworks displays, live music, and dragon dances,” according to Public Holidays HK.
- It has also become the platform for political movements demanding universal suffrage.
- Yen is now being criticized in Hong Kong for his opinion of Xi Jinping amid Beijing’s recent imposition of the controversial national security law.
- The new law, which many views as a threat to civil liberties, has since sparked a new round of pro-democracy protests in the city.
#DonnieYen claimeed he’s fighting for the Chineses while bootlicking the CCP 🤢🤢🤢
He maybe best in his field but he’s one of those hypocrites who choose profit over his own people. And he is in #Mulan !!
Just more reasons for us to #BoycottMulan !!https://t.co/NC8KYA4Yjx pic.twitter.com/AaExZHhExc
— Daliloha (@Dalilohalalala) July 5, 2020
First #Mulan’s lead actor #LiuYifei supported #HongKongPoliceBrutality
Now co-star #DonnieYen is celebrating #Beijing’s tyrannical rule over #HongKong
This is disgraceful! Does the entire cast support the #CCP?
If you support #HumanRights and #Democracy please #BoycottMulan! https://t.co/8XpqeJuoAh pic.twitter.com/SgaiWxpMsm
— James Lee Proudfoot🎗 (@PhilosophyNook) July 5, 2020
The #BoycottMulan hashtag is trending in #Thailand
Hundreds of our #Thai friends are taking a #StandWithHongKong
And condemning #LiuYifei for supporting #PoliceBrutality
Some are even using the #MilkTeaAlliance hashtag to amplify their voices!
Thank you Thai friends! 🇹🇭🇹🇼🇭🇰 pic.twitter.com/Gue5hwDFka
— James Lee Proudfoot🎗 (@PhilosophyNook) July 2, 2020
#BoycottMulan movement: Last year, NextShark reported on the backlash “Mulan” star Liu Yifei received after expressing support for the Hong Kong police amid the then-ongoing protests.
- In a Weibo post, Liu shared a text photo from the Chinese state-run People’s Daily, which reads, “I support the Hong Kong police. You can all attack me now. What a shame for Hong Kong.”
- The Chinese American actress also used the hashtag “#IalsosupportHongKongpolice.”
- At the time, the Hong Kong Police was criticized for the way it handled protesters, journalists, medics and innocent bystanders.
- With the growing animosity toward the law enforcement authorities, Liu’s posts ignited the #BoycottMulan movement.
- Immediately after the #BoycottMulan hashtag gained traction on Twitter, the hashtag #supportmulan also started circulating, which was reported by Variety that many of those messages came from nationalist bots.
- Twitter would later shut down over 200,000 “spammy” accounts from China that were “deliberately and specifically attempting to sow political discord in Hong Kong, including undermining the legitimacy and political positions of the protest movement on the ground,” it wrote on its Twitter Safety blog.
Disney’s Mulan actress, Liu Yifei, supports police brutality and oppression in Hong Kong.
Real ironic for a naturalized American citizen to shit on people fighting for freedom and democracy.
Another L for commies #BoycottMulan pic.twitter.com/2cv7uH98lo
— doki (@dokiww) August 16, 2019
Disney’s Mulan actress Liu Yifei supports police brutality in Hong Kong.
(She said ‘I support Hong Kong police, now you can punch me.’)#BoycottMulan pic.twitter.com/cVXoQNbQZh— Yan (@_lhyann) August 16, 2019
I mean if Disney so desperately want to sell this movie to chinese, let them be , let them only sell to chinese people, we the people of the free world will not watch it. Chinese people will be the only one who watch this movie just as Disney’s desire #BoycottMulan
— jamjambb🍼🥕🇹🇭🇹🇼🇭🇰 (@quitt_xx01) July 2, 2020
Feature Image via donnieyenofficial