(CelebrityAccess) — Disney’s live-action remake of their 1998 animated hit “Mulan” is facing boycott calls after its lead actress, Chinese-born Crystal Liu Yifei, took to social media to voice her support for the police crackdown on pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong.
On Wednesday, the actress posted an image to Chinese social media service Weibo from The People’s Daily, a Chinese newspaper closely aligned with the ruling Communist Party that read: “I support the Hong Kong police; you can beat me up now” along with an English-language caption that added, “What a shame for Hong Kong.”
The post was quickly shared and retweeted by Liu’s almost 66 million followers but also prompted a backlash featuring the hashtag #BoycottMulan, which spread on other platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Social media users took Liu to task for portraying a character who fights against oppression, while siding with an authoritarian government.
What a hypocrite. She got herself a US citizenship and she tells people in #hongkong they should give up their rights. Why doesn’t she give up her US citizenship then and go the hell back to China? #boycottmulan
— Eliza Lagan (@ElizaLagan) August 15, 2019
Chinese words on the Mulan poster mean Loyalty (忠), Bravery (勇) and Authenticity (真). Liu Yifei, the Mulan actress, is an American and is not loyal to the American core values. Shame!#BoycottMulan @Disney pic.twitter.com/kP4PUtmuqU
— cpsn (@champagnesuperr) August 16, 2019
The Hong Kong protests, which started in June in opposition to an extradition treaty between Hong Kong and mainland China, has since morphed into a general call for democracy, with protestors calling for universal suffrage.
