Mulan actress’ comments about Hong Kong spark backlash

The leading actress in the new Mulan film has been accused of supporting police brutality after commenting on the Hong Kong protests.

There are growing calls to boycott the upcoming live-action Mulan movie after the film’s leading actress voiced her opinion on the Hong Kong protests.

Chinese actress Liu Yifei has come under fire after she reposted comment supporting the police on Chinese social media site Weibo.

She shared a quote, which was first posted on social media by the state-sponsored Chinese outlet People’s Daily, that read in Chinese: “I also support Hong Kong police. You can beat me up now”.

The words “What a shame for Hong Kong” were also added in English to the picture.

Liu Yifei in a scene from the first trailer for Disneys' live-action remake of the movie Mulan.

Ms Liu shared the photo to her Weibo page, where she has almost 66 million followers, reiterating the words: I also support Hong Kong police”.

The quote has been shared around the Chinese social media site and is believed to be from a reporter for Chinese newspaper Global Times.

The reporter was attacked last week by protesters at Hong Kong’s airport after being accused of working undercover for the police.

Ms Liu’s post resulted in widespread praise of Weibo, but the reaction was vastly different on Twitter, resulting in the trending hashtag of #BoycottMulan.

Ms Liu’s comments sparked a call to boycott the Mulan movie. Picture: Michael Buckner/Getty Images

Her comments have caused outrage from those who support that pro-democracy activists that been protesting for 10 weeks against plans for laws allowing extraditions to mainland China.

The Hong Kong police have been accused of using heavy handed tactics on demonstrators, following a series of violent clashes between activists and authorities.

Ms Liu is a US citizen and many Twitter users pointed out her views on the matter may be different if she was living in a country like Hong Kong that had very limited democratic freedoms compared to the US.

Some people even accused her of supporting police brutality.

Disney’s Mulan actress, Liu Yifei, supports police brutality and oppression in Hong Kong.

Liu is a naturalized American citizen. it must be nice. meanwhile she pisses on people fighting for democracy.

retweet please. HK doesn’t get enough support. #BoycottMulan @Disney pic.twitter.com/lBoQv7BlsZ

— Jun Lee (@BBABYDOLL2000) August 16, 2019

#BoycottMulan is trending, b/c Liu Yifei, the star of Mulan, is supporting the police vs HK protesters. In other words, she supports police brutality & China's authoritarianism.

How out of touch is Yifei?

Hasn't she learned anything from playing the part of a feminist-activist?

— Francis Baraan IV (@MrFrankBaraan) August 16, 2019

#BoycottMulan how tone deaf do you have to be to support police brutality when you just filmed a character who is supposed to stand against oppression in its raw form? Pound sand. pic.twitter.com/Ug8pfh3JPN

— Tom S. Foolery (@foolery_s) August 16, 2019

MASS PROTEST PLANNED

More protests are planned this for this afternoon, with a huge crowd of democracy activists expected to gather in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park.

This latest demonstration comes as part of a fresh bid to show the city’s leaders that their protest movement remains defiant despite increasingly stark warnings from Beijing.

Ten weeks of demonstrations have plunged the international finance hub into crisis and communist-ruled mainland China has taken an increasingly hard line tone, including labelling the more violent protester actions “terrorist-like”.

Clashes have broken out between police and hardcore protesters but the movement has won few concessions from Beijing or the city’s unelected leadership.

Protesters use laser pointers to beam at policemen during the anti-extradition bill protest in Hong Kong. Picture: Kin Cheung/AP

On Tuesday, protesters blocked passengers from boarding flights at the city’s airport and later assaulted two men they accused of being Chinese spies.

The images damaged a campaign that until then had largely only targeted the police or government institutions, and prompted some soul-searching among protesters.

China’s propaganda apparatuses seized on the violence, with state media churning out a deluge of damning articles, pictures and videos.

State media also ran images of military personnel and armoured personnel carriers across the border in Shenzhen, prompting the United States to warn Beijing against sending in troops, which analysts say would be a reputational and economic disaster for China.

In the aftermath of Tuesday’s airport chaos, some protester groups apologised and vowed to hold a huge rally on Sunday.

A police officer armed with a shotgun looks up at protesters during this weekend’s march. Picture: Vincent Thian/AP

Billed as a “rational, nonviolent” protest, it is being organised by the Civil Human Rights Front, a group that eschews confrontations with police and was the driving force behind record-breaking rallies in June and July that saw hundreds of thousands of people hit the streets.

During smaller protest marches on Saturday — which ended without the kind of large-scale clashes that have become so commonplace each weekend — many protesters chanted “See you in Victoria Park!” as they left the streets.

The park has long been used as the staging point for the city’s years of democracy protests and will host today’s demonstration.

Police have given permission for the rally to go ahead but banned a proposed march.

Previous bans in recent weeks have simply been ignored by protesters and have soon led to clashes with riot police.