Why is Boycott Mulan trending? Liu Yifei’s police brutality remarks explained

4 September 2020, 12:23

Disney’s first official live-action ‘Mulan’ trailer

By Sam Prance

People are asking Disney+ users to not watch Mulan 2020 due to Liu Yifei's comments on police brutality in Hong Kong.

Disney's live-action Mulan remake is finally out on Disney+ but there is already a viral call for people to boycott the new film.

Ever since Disney announced that they would be making a live-action version of Mulan, fans have been excited to see how it would compare to the 1998 animated movie. The project was originally scheduled to come out in March 2020, however, due to the coronavirus pandemic, its release date was delayed. Today (Sep 4), Disney has made the film available on Disney+.

READ MORE: Mulan: Will Mushu, Shang and the original songs be in the live-action Disney film?

Just before the movie came out though, #BoycottMulan started trending online with hundreds of thousands of tweets.

Why is Boycott Mulan 2020 trending? What did Liu Yifei say about police brutality?

The reason why people are boycotting Mulan stems back to 2019. Thousands of people in Hong Kong have been involved in pro-democracy protests against mainland China over the last year and there have been multiple reports that the police have used excessive force against protesters. Just last month, prominent pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow was arrested.

Last year, Liu Yifei, who plays Mulan in the new movie, faced backlash after taking to Chinese social network Weibo to write in support of the Hong Kong police. She wrote: "I support the Hong Kong police. You can all attack me now. What a shame for Hong Kong." Following her comments, #BoycottMulan started trending on Twitter and now it's trending again.

Free speech activist Joshua Wong tweeted: "This film is released today. But because Disney kowtows to Beijing, and because Liu Yifei openly and proudly endorses police brutality in Hong Kong, I urge everyone who believes in human rights to #BoycottMulan."

Another person added: "Mulan’s my favorite disney princess and I’ve been waiting for this movie ever since they announced a live-action remake but considering the lead’s support for the police, we shouldn’t pay to see it. If I can resist the urge to do such, you can too. #BoycottMulan".

As it stands, Liu Yifei and Disney are yet to respond to the backlash. We shall update you if they do.

What do you think? Are you boycotting Mulan?