Celebs cause backlash by supporting Beijing in Hong Kong protests
Posted by Josh Taylor / August 17, 2019Two Chinese celebrities have supported Beijing against the Hong Kong protestors, drawing the protestors’ ire. One is Jackie Chan, the beloved action movie star. Chan described the protests as “sad and depressing” and he wanted to ensure that the national flag wasn’t “desecrated” by protestors. The other is Liu Yifei, star of Disney’s upcoming live-action “Mulan,” who came publicly supported the police, who the protestors accused of using excessive force.
The Chinese media has said that Hong Kong protestors are “asking for self-destruction.” They also released a video of the Chinese military amassing near the city’s border. Although the protestors have abandoned the airport after occupying it over the weekend, they are continuing protests throughout the city.
The protestors claims that they’re fighting against authoritarianism is bolstered by one of the key weapons: laser pointers. The laser pointers do a number of things. When shined in the face of police officers, they deter them, for example. But much more importantly, the laser pointers scramble cameras and, as a result, prevent photographs and (much more importantly) deter the use of facial recognition software. Such a weapon will halt Beijing’s use of technology to control its population.
Last week, protestors, all clad in black, have occupied Hong Kong’s international airport. The protestors plan to occupy the airport until Sunday as a protest against Chinese authoritarian government. They handed out pamphlets that read, “You’ve arrived in a broken, torn-apart city, not the one you have once pictured. Yet for this Hong Kong, we fight. We shall never surrender.”
Protests began earlier this summer when China wanted the ability to extradite from Hong Kong to mainland China. Those plans were quickly paused, but the protests continued. Protestors were no longer concerned with the extradition from Hong Kong––instead, they were demanding wider democratic reforms.
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