Joshua Wong's call for boycott of 'Mulan' backfires on Chinese social media - Global Times

Poster of Mulan Photo: Maoyan

A call from Hong Kong separatist Joshua Wong to boycott the Disney film Mulan starring Chinese-American actor Liu Yifei faced a strong backlash online on Sunday, with many Chinese netizens saying it provided one more reason for them to watch the movie.  

Hong Kong separatists have been inciting the public to "Boycott Mulan" since last year after Liu made comments supporting Hong Kong police on Chinese social media Weibo. 

In his tweet on Friday, Wong tried to stir up the public to boycott the movie on the premise of "human rights" and "freedom", saying, "Disney kowtows to Beijing and because Liu Yifei openly and proudly endorse police brutality in Hong Kong, I urge everyone who believes in human rights to #BoycottMulan."

The boycott, however, seems have incited a sense of patriotism on Chinese social media, as many netizens said they decided to buy a ticket for Mulan to counter Hong Kong separatists. 

"I didn't want to watch this film, but after Wong's comments, I decided to watch it," one netizen on Weibo said. Another said, "The purpose of these separatists is not to resist Mulan at all, but to use the name of 'Mulan' to promote so-called democracy and freedom and to discredit China!"

Shi Wenxue, a Beijing-based film critic, told the Global Times on Sunday that if the Hong Kong separatists generated very strong resistance online, it would inevitably boost the sense of patriotism among Chinese audiences and add momentum for its box office potential. 

The movie will be officially released in the Chinese mainland on September 11.

After Global Times reporter Fu Guohao and a tourist were beaten by violent gangs of radical Hong Kong protesters at the Hong Kong airport last year in August, all walks of life in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland started to strongly condemn this heinous act and demanded that the Hong Kong police strictly enforce the law and maintain the rule of law in Hong Kong.

Actress Liu also reposted content supporting Hong Kong police's law enforcement on her personal Weibo, annoying some extremists in Hong Kong who then called for a boycott of Liu, Disney and Mulan. 

The live-action version of Mulan starring Liu Yifei, Donnie Yen, Jet Li and Gong Li was originally scheduled to be released in North America on March 27, 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 epidemic. 

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2020-09-06 04:13:00Z

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