Critics are none too happy to hear that Chinese actor Donnie Yen has been invited to present an award at the 2023 Oscars after he slammed the 2019 pro-democracy Hong Kong protests against the tyranny of the Chinese Communist Party during an interview. Hey, this is a cause supported by activists I can actually get behind, being someone who hates communism with a passion and the all of the death and destruction that comes along with it. Too bad Yen, most widely known for his portrayal of wing chun master Yip Man, is all about that commie life.
“A petition calling on the Oscars Committee to remove the John Wick star, long a supporter of China’s ruling Communist dictatorship, from the role at the 95th Academy Awards has already drawn 30,000 supporters in less than 48-hours since it launched. It says in part,” Breitbart News reports.
“We, a group of people from Hong Kong, are writing to express our concern about your decision to invite an actor who supports the Chinese Communist Party’s violation of human rights, Donnie Yen, as a presenter for the Oscars. As a globally recognized film award, the Oscars should represent respect for human rights and moral values, rather than support for actions that violate them,” the report continues.
Yen is a big fan of the Chinese Communist Party and has made a few remarks that has demonstrated his support for the policies of the Chinese government, including backing the implementation of the National Security Law in Hong Kong and leveling accusations against protesters in the area of rioting.
“He has been the subject of opposition since he spoke out in 2019 against demonstrators moving against the Communist Chinese dictatorship that rules Hong Kong. He is also an unabashed backer of China’s President Xi Jinping and the Beijing government he leads,” the report adds. “In a recent interview, Yen, who starred alongside Keanu Reeves in the latest John Wick outing, told a GQ reporter Hong Kong’s pro-democracy unrest in 2019 was not a public protest.”
“It was a riot,” he remarked.
Just after stating he did not want to get political, Yen did just that, saying he expected some people would be angry about his position on the matter, “but I’m speaking from my own experience.”
He then made the claim that China’s progress toward modernization shocked him, however, international media was not being fair to his country: “The BBC, CNN, they never talk about that. They never mention the true side of it. But I’m there, you know?”
“The 2019-2020 Hong Kong protests were a series of mass public demonstrations that began on 15 March, 2019 in response to the introduction by the Hong Kong government of the Fugitive Offenders amendment bill on extradition,” Breitbart says. “Pro-democracy protestors called on moviegoers at the time to boycott Disney’s live-action Mulan over actress Liu Yifei’s comments in which she supported Communist China’s crackdown on demonstrators.”
Pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong, including Joshua Wong, are calling on moviegoers to boycott Disney's live-action 'Mulan' over actress Liu Yifei's past comment in which she supported Communist China's crackdown on demonstrators. https://t.co/1bTbjALsye
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) September 5, 2020
The protestors also demanded that the Walt Disney Co. stop its repeated deference to the Communist dictatorship in China. It was labeled one of the largest series of demonstrations in the history of Hong Kong. Thousands of people were taken into custody in violent scenes that exploded all over the area.
By the middle part of 2020, the Hong Kong government declared restoration of peace and stability with the implementation of the national security law.
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