The star of next year’s live action remake of Mulan caused a massive stir on social media this past week. Crystal Liu, who portrays the lead character in Disney’s live action remake of the animated Disney princess film Mulan, posted a series of posts in support of Hong Kong’s police amidst widespread violent protests rocking the city.
As reported by the Hollywood Reporter,
Liu’s statement sparked instant outcry in Hong Kong, where the local police have been accused by international human rights groups of excessive use of force in confrontations with protesters and the public.Posting to her 65 million followers on Chinese social media platform Weibo, Liu shared an image originally released by the state-backed People’s Daily, reading: “I support Hong Kong’s police, you can beat me up now,” followed by, “What a shame for Hong Kong.” Liu added the hashtag “IAlsoSupportTheHongKongPolice” and a heart emoji. The post received over 72,000 likes and over 65,000 shares in less than 24 hours.
For the past several weeks, Hong Kong has experienced major Pro-Democracy protests in response to China’s provocations as recent legislation has threatened to limit Hong Kong’s autonomy as a somewhat independent City-State separate from China. As Legal Insurrection blogged back on August 3rd,
The trigger for these demonstrations was an extradition bill that would have led to Hong Kong residents being handed over to China for trials. Hong Kong citizens are worried about the type of justice they can expected from the Chinese government.
Since then, subsequent weeks of protest have resulted in Hong Kong’s airport being shut down, protesters started waving American flags and the Chinese military has begun to accumulate near the city. International fears of a Tiananmen Square style massacre are beginning to mount as the protestors continue to call for freedom.
Crystal Liu’s statements were called out by online protestors living in Hong Kong who started the hashtag #BoycottMulan which has since started trending online internationally.
Sadly the news of the protests has largely flown under the radar as the media focuses on domestic issues. While it’s not clear what can be done to stop the situation from boiling over into a massacre without foreign intervention, the world tacitly watches at a distance as Hong Kong prepares for the possibility of losing it’s sovereignty with little hope of victory over the oppressive Chinese state.
Comments like Crystal Liu’s only serve the interests of China as it continues to implement its imperialist goals.
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