On Friday, Mulan was released in Hong Kong and protests are being carried out to boycott the movie. Since last year, Hong Kong is protesting against the Chinese government with China trying to control all the activities in the country. The lead actress of the movie Liu Yifei talked in support of the Hong Kong police and the government who are using a moderate and uncontrolled force against the protestors. This happened a year ago when Yifei shared an online post supporting the police.
An incident occurred when one of the Hong Kong activist Agnes Chow was arrested under a controversial security law that was imposed by China. She has been charged with trying to collide with foreign forces. If found guilty, she will have to face life imprisonment. She has been released on bail right now. But, after the incident, the Hong Kong citizens started supporting her calling her the real Mulan. Yifei clearly wrote her caption, saying that she supports the Hong Kong police. Soon after that, #BoycottMulan started trending in the country.
"I support the Hong Kong police. You can all attack me now. What a shame for Hong Kong."
Hong Kong protesters call for 'Mulan' boycott after star went public in support of police https://t.co/2beVDzleHd pic.twitter.com/C55cYMlS9t
— CNN International (@cnni) August 16, 2019
Why are the protestors against the ‘Mulan’ actress Liu Yifei?
Liu Yifei is a citizen of the US but was born in China. After this post, she started receiving a lot of love from China. The Chinese community even praised her for her actions. Now, after a year the campaign has restarted as Disney also favors China. The sole reason is that China is one of its largest markets. Yifei once also praised a Chinese reporter Fu Guohao, who became a hero on the Chinese social media. In reality, he had assaulted some pro-democracy activists. Yifei has 65 million followers and the Chinese government is surely taking advantage of this.
In April, China passed a bill in Hong Kong stating that any suspicion of criminal activity will be handed over to China. After this, people started protesting. They said that this bill will lead to China dominating over Hong Kong. The citizens of Hong Kong even stated that this is China’s strategy to target the protestors and the activists. Hong Kong also offered the strategy of ‘one country, two systems,’ but China has refused that as well. After this, the protest became common, and so did the clash between the police and the protesters. In September, the bill was withdrawn after it had escalated.
Why is Hong Kong ruled by the Republic of China now?
Hong Kong was a British Colony that was handed over to China in 1997. They have their own democracy, legal, and judicial system. Things have escalated in Hong Kong, leading to an 18-year old being shot, a policeman shooting a protesters, the government banning the protestors from wearing masks, and more. The protests are being turned into riots and police brutality is increasing in the country. People across the globe in the UK, France, the US, and more are supporting the Hong Kong government.