Why Live-Action 'Mulan' Actress Liu Yifei Is Facing Backlash For The Role
In true Mulan spirit, Yifei is standing up for what she believes in!
Instagram Political protests are happening all over Hong Kong, in hopes to prevent the passing of a proposed bill, the 2019 Hong Kong Anti-Extradition Bill. These protests have become increasingly violent. Recently, Chinese born Mulan actress Liu Yifei, has come forward with her support of Hong Kong police. This has everyone asking, who is Liu Yifei?
1. What are the protests about?
There is a proposed bill in Hong Kong called 2019 Hong Kong anti-extradition bill. If this bill passes, it would allow local authorities to detain and extradite people who are wanted in territories that Hong Kong does not have extradition treaties with, specifically mainland China and Taiwan. This has the Hong Kong public fearful that this would place them in the jurisdiction of mainland China and override the autonomy of the region.
In China, "One Country, Two Systems" is a policy put in place in the 1980's stating that China will remain one country, but Hong Kong and Macau, and other distinct districts, could retain their own economy and administration. Residents of Hong Kong fear that under the new bill, these principals will fall away, leaving them exposed to mainland Chinese rule. In the time since the bill has been proposed there have been protests all over Hong Kong.
2. Where the police come in.
In attempts to keep protesters at bay, Hong Kong police have taken to using force. They've shot protesters with rubber bullets and sprayed tear gas to get them to stand down. This is causing further uproar in the city as now Hong Kong is even further divided. There are those in support of the bill and those against the bill as well as those in support of the police and those against the police.
3. Liu Yifei's support of police
Lui Yifei, who is starring as Mulan in Disney's live action remake of the classic animated film, decided to speak out in support of the police. The Chinese born actress wrote on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform comparable to Twitter: "I support the Hong Kong police. You can all attack me now. What a shame for Hong Kong." You can tell from the tone of her post that she knew her opinion wouldn't be popular. The actress is now facing major backlash from many Hong Kong natives.
4. The Hong Kong Police's thoughts
After a peaceful march turned violent on Sunday, the Hong Kong police decided that it was time for them to comment on the alleged brutality. The statement read: "...only when there were violent acts or illegal behaviors which endangered the safety of people at the scene, [officers] would stop them by proportionate use of force to prevent the incidents from heating up and worsening. Protestors neglected their violent acts and the provocation at the police but criticized police’s use of force was reversing the causality and was unfair to police.”
5. Other celebrities on the political climate in Hong Kong.
Other celebrities have publicly come forward with their thoughts about the current political climate in Hong Kong. Jackie Chan, who is a native to the city as well as an actor, martial artist and movie star, called for peace in an interview on Thursday. He said: "I feel the pride of being Chinese everywhere. The five-starred red flag is respected everywhere." While this statement doesn't seem to take any side except that of China as a whole, it was still met with tons of backlash.
6. Public twitter responses
Some people on Twitter are outraged at Yifei's support of the police. They took to Twitter to say: "Liu is a naturalized American citizen. It must be nice. Meanwhile she pisses on people fighting for democracy,".
Other's spoke out in support of Yifei saying: "Believe in the government, believe in the Chinese central (government), believe in the country,"
Kaitlin Kaiser is a writer who covers zodiac and astrology content, pop culture, religion and relationship topics.