HK ‘Mulan’imosity
Cop-backer Disney star draws protest ire
China's paramilitary People's Armed Police marched and practiced crowd-control tactics at a sports complex near Hong Kong on Friday — in what some interpreted as a warning against more planned protests in the city.
Also Friday, protesters and their backers called for a boycott of Disney’s live-action “Mulan” remake, due next year, after the film’s Chinese-born star, Liu Yifei, tweeted her support for Hong Kong’s police, who have been accused of brutality in their crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators.
“I support the Hong Kong police. You can beat me now. What a shame for Hong Kong,” she posted on Weibo, a popular, Twitter-like Chinese social-media platform, the South China Morning Post reported.
Yifei’s statement was in reference to a Chinese journalist for China’s state-run Global Times, who was roughed up by protesters rallying at the Hong Kong airport on Tuesday.
People quickly posted #BoycottMulan on Twitter. The platform is banned in China.
“YiFei Liu totally destroyed one of my favorite @Disney characters. Sucks! She supports the brutality of Hong Kong Police for beating up ppl. #BoycottMulan,” tweeted Nardia Huang.
Liu was also praised on Weibo, where users voiced support for Hong Kong’s police and Beijing.
The controversy came a day after action star Jackie Chan, who was born in Hong Kong, called for peace in an interview with Chinese broadcaster CCTV.
“I feel the pride of being a Chinese everywhere. The fivestarred red flag is respected everywhere,” he said Thursday, a comment which prompted antinationalist backlash.
Meanwhile, Chinese state media have only said that the military exercises near Shenzhen Bay Stadium — close to a bridge linking mainland China to Hong Kong — were planned earlier and not directly related to the unrest in Hong Kong, although they came shortly after the central government in Beijing said the protests were beginning to show the “sprouts of terrorism.”
From a distance, police in the area were seen conducting drills in military fatigues, using shields, poles and other riot-control gear.
Weeks of protests in Hong Kong have been marked by increasing violence and a shutdown of the Hong Kong airport this past week.
Demonstrators are calling for expanded political rights and the scrapping of legislation that would send criminal suspects to mainland China.