‘Mulan’s Liu Yifei’s Seeming Support For Hong Kong Police Sparks #BoycottMulan Trend
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Liu Yifei, the star of Disney’s upcoming live-action iteration of Mulan, is under fire for recent comments she posted on the Chinese micro-blogging site Weibo supposedly supporting the Hong King Police Force who have been accused of using excessive force against protestors and journalists.
Yifei, who is Chinese-American, wrote: “”I support Hong Kong’s police, you can beat me up now.” She continued, “What a shame for Hong Kong” and “#Ialsosupporthongkongpolice#.”
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A series of protests in Hong Kong have been happening for over four months and were a response to legislation that would allow suspected criminals to be extradited to territories where it doesn’t have formal extradition deals. This includes Taiwan, Macau and mainland China. Earlier this week, 5,000 activists occupied Hong Kong Airport, causing the two-day grounding of departing flights. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam has since suspended the bill.
A number of people have taken to Twitter to call out Yifei and have used the hashtag #BoycottMulan, with some encouraging people not to watch Mulan when it is released on March 27, 2020. The hashtag started to trend.
One Twitter user wrote: “@Disney why does your company support a Chinese actress who openly supports a suppressive regime?” Another said: “#BoycottMulan because while these people in HK are fighting for their rights while being brutalized by their own police, Liu Yifei is sitting her happy ass down in the US enjoying the rights those people don’t have while supporting the police brutality from afar.”
“I was happy when @DisneyStudios announced that they are making a new Mulan movie,” tweeted another user. “She was my childhood hero. It is disappointed to see the actress who plays her does not empathise with the protesters in HK. They are fighting for their homeland like Mulan. #BoycottMulan”
Read Yifei’s posts below.
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