Disney’s latest live-action release “Mulan” is facing boycott in some Asian countries due to complicated political reasons.
Mulan’s leading actress, Liu Yifei, had outraged many with a comment in favor of Hong Kong’s police action of violence towards pro-democracy demonstrators last year.
The protestors were fighting against a law that would allow extradition from Hong Kong to China. Extradition is an act where one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction.
Liu shared a post from the government-run Beijing newspaper People’s Daily on Weibo. “I support the Hong Kong police. You can all attack me now. What a shame for Hong Kong,” she commented.
#BoycottMulan soon began trending on Twitter. Thai and Taiwanese activists have also joined in with the movie boycott – and are also telling people to ban Mulan.
Mulan had been scheduled to be released back in March but was postponed several times due to the coronavirus – the film will now go straight to Disney’s streaming service. This means it is skipping majority of the cinemas, while getting a lot of back lash due to the comments by Mulan’s leading actress.
Things are still tense between Hong Kong and China. The extradition law behind initial protests was dropped, but in April this year many pro-democracy activists were arrested.
In June, China passed a new law and the details were kept secret until it was passed that could pose a threat to China’s authority in Hong Kong, making it punishable by life in prison.
When Hong Kong’s activist Agnes Chow was arrested in August, she was described as the real Mulan by the netizens.
–J.Chung.