Calls to boycott Disney’s live-action remake of Mulan trended Friday after the film’s Chinese-American star Liu Yifei voiced support for Hong Kong police forces in recent anti-democracy protests. Liu posted an article from the Beijing-backed People’s Daily to her 65.6 million followers on Weibo, China’s Twitter equivalent, with the comment, “I support Hong Kong police. You can beat me now. What a shame for Hong Kong.” Her former Forbidden Kingdom co-star Jackie Chan, perhaps Hong Kong’s most famous native son, also came under fire when he told China’s state broadcaster CCTV that the ongoing unrest was “heartbreaking and worrying for many” along with pledging his own support for a social-media campaign to protect the Chinese national flag from desecration by Hong Kong protesters.
