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Calls to Boycott ‘Mulan’ Reignite Over Star’s Support for Hong Kong Police

The actress Liu Yifei said in 2019 on social media that she backed the Hong Kong police, who have been criticized for their use of force against protesters.

Liu Yifei, the star of Disney’s live-action remake of “Mulan,” in Datong, China, last month.Credit...Visual China Group, via Getty Images

[Update: Calls to boycott “Mulan” reignited at the release of the film on Sept. 4, 2020, two months after China imposed a sweeping national security law for Hong Kong, criminalizing words and images that had been legally protected free speech. Read more about how life in Hong Kong has changed here.]

HONG KONG — Supporters of the Hong Kong protests called for a boycott of Disney’s coming “Mulan” remake after its star, Liu Yifei, said she supported the city’s police, who have been criticized for their use of force against demonstrators.

In mid-August of 2019, Ms. Liu reposted an image on Weibo, a Chinese social network similar to Twitter, that took the police’s side. The image she shared was originally published by People’s Daily, the ruling Communist Party’s official newspaper.

“I support the Hong Kong police. You can all attack me now,” the post read in Chinese — quoting a statement made by Fu Guohao, a reporter for a state-run Chinese newspaper, to protesters who tied him up and attacked him during a demonstration at the Hong Kong airport the day before.

“What a shame for Hong Kong,” the post continued in English. Ms. Liu, who is Chinese-American, added her own commentary in Chinese: “I support the Hong Kong police, too.”

Since Mr. Fu was assaulted, his words have become a nationalist meme in China — driven in part by the state-run media, which have depicted the pro-democracy protesters as violent radicals and given little coverage to their grievances, or to international criticism of the city’s police.

Demonstrators apologized the next day for their behavior at the airport, where they disrupted operations for two days. They said the police’s recent use of undercover officers to infiltrate their ranks had made them fearful.

Disney’s live-action remake of “Mulan,” its 1998 animated hit about a Chinese girl who disguises herself as a man to fight in a war, had been set for release on March 27, 2020. While comments on Weibo, a tightly controlled network popular in China, fully supported Ms. Liu and the Hong Kong police, her post prompted a #BoycottMulan hashtag on Twitter, which is blocked in China.

Since the protests in Hong Kong began in the spring of 2019, the police’s conduct has become a central issue for the demonstrators. The police have routinely used batons, pepper spray, rubber bullets and tear gas against protesters, some of whom have also regularly engaged in violence against them. The police have also been accused of allowing an armed mob to attack protesters and bystanders at a train station last month.

Several international organizations, including the United Nations human rights office, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have condemned the police’s conduct, including their use of tear gas in a train station last weekend, and have echoed demonstrators’ calls for an independent investigation.

But praising the Hong Kong police makes for good politics in China, where Ms. Liu has found a large audience. Entertainers who depend on the Chinese market tend to stay away from politics or support the government’s view. China has a history of blacklisting entertainers who have made contentious political statements, including some who have supported Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement.

Katherine Li contributed reporting.

Daniel Victor is a London-based reporter, covering a wide variety of stories with a focus on breaking news. He joined The Times in 2012 from ProPublica. More about Daniel Victor

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 11 of the New York edition with the headline: ‘Mulan’ Star Backs Police, Igniting Drive For a Boycott. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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