Mulan Star Under Fire For Celebrating Hong Kong’s Return to China
Though Mulan may be postponed until later this Summer, its stars are still making the news cycle and causing #BoycottMulan to gather momentum on Twitter. As we previously shared with you here at MickeyBlog, Liu Yifei’s stance regarding Hong Kong’s relationship with China caused a bit of outrage earlier in the year, . Now DonnieYen, who plays Commander Tung in the film is also courting controversy with some comments he recently made on Facebook.
According to a recent piece in CBR.com, the Chinese-born actor and martial artist made a post on July 1st which was Hong Kong’s handover day. He wrote, “Today is the celebration day for Hong Kong returned to motherland China 23 years [sic].” He then recalled performing for Chairman Xi Jinping of the Chinese Communist Party in 2017, calling it a “memorable night.”
This obviously didn’t sit well with those objecting to Hong Kong rejoining the communist regime here are a couple of the comments below:
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
As you can see from the comments, this continues to be a HOT issue in the region. CBR points out that Hong Kong observes the city’s Establishment Day marking the anniversary of the July 1st handover. This was the date when sovereignty in the region was transferred from the United Kingdom to the People’s Republic of China. What makes so many angry about Yen’s comments is that since Hong Kong’s move back to China, national security law has been imposed by China which restricts the democratic rights of people in the city. These rights were promised to the citizens in a Joint Declaration. If you’ve been following along with this news then you know that this has resulted in nearly a year of massive pro-democracy protests.
Comments supporting the move by China made by cast members in Mulan have lead to the #boycottmulan movement on social media. It started after Liu Yifei expressed support for the Hong Kong Police Force including the brutal tactics they used during peaceful protests. The movement has continued to grow around South East Asia including South Korea and Thailand.
This is a story that we’ll continue to follow closely here at MickeyBlog. Readers are encouraged to keep checking in with us for further news and updates.
The film was directed by Niki Caro, and stars Yifei Liu as Mulan, Donnie Yen as Commander Tung, Jason Scott Lee as Böri Khan and Yoson An as Cheng Honghui, with Gong Li as Xianniang and Jet Li as the Emperor. The film is currently scheduled to arrive in theaters August 21.
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