Netizens Call for Boycott of John Wick Star Donnie Yen After He Called Hong Kong Protesters Rioters

Yen expressed support for the CCP's human rights abuses

Actor Donnie Yen Ji-dan, attending the opening of the first session of the CCP’s annual political gathering known as the Two Sessions that will convene leaders and lawmakers to set the CCP's agenda for the year. Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

Hong Kong martial art movie star Donnie Yen, appointed as a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, faces backlash for his political comments in an exclusive interview with GQ Hype on Feb. 28.

In response to Yen’s comments, Hong Kong netizens organized a petition to urge the Oscars to cancel Donnie Yen as an award presenter of the evening, amid his support to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and condoning its human rights violation.

During the interview with the British magazine GQ Hype, Donnie Yen was asked about the boycott campaign against his film in 2019. He responded, “It was not a protest, ok? It was a riot.”

Yen stated in the interview he did not want “to get involved with politics” as “some people might not like what he had to say,” even though his words were based on his experience.

Netizens responded by saying Yen was a human rights abuser. He sided with the CCP and denied people’s right to freedom and human rights.

On Feb. 28, a group of netizens launched a joint petition campaign on change.org, pleading to the Academy Awards Committees to cancel its invitation of Donnie Yen as an award presenter amid his siding with the CCP and support of violations against human rights and freedom.

The petition has already gained over 27,000 signatures as of Mar 5.

Tong Wai-hung, widely known as Fu Tong, is a Hong Kong protester who launched an online signature petition urging the Academy Award Committee to cancel the invitation of Donnie Yen as an award presenter.

Tong migrated to Taiwan after being arrested, charged, and released for involvement in the Hong Kong Protests in 2019.

The joint letter noted that Donnie Yen was a supporter of the CCP and a member of the CCP national advisory body. Yen had repeatedly made statements and remarks supporting the controversial National Security Law and publicly accused Hong Kong protesters of being “thugs.”

The letter pleaded to the Oscars that Yen turned his back on Hongkongers as a Hong Kong actor and ignored the regime’s human rights abuse.

“As a globally recognized film award, the Oscars should respect human rights and moral values, rather than support for actions that violate them.” The petition wrote.

Netizens React

As soon as the GQ interview was published, netizens flooded the social media pages of GQ to dispute Yen’s comments about the Hong Kong protests and protesters.

Netizens wrote, “He (Yen) has to kiss the CCP’s ass to make a dime.”

Another commented, “You don’t need to sell your soul to the devil to make money.”

Other online users echoed similar reactions, wondered where Yen’s backbone was, and said they would boycott Donnie Yen’s movies from then on.

Officially Part of the CCP

The 59-year-old actor, who said he did “not want to discuss politics in the GQ interview,” appeared in Beijing on Mar 5, when Yen officially stepped into the CCP’s political circle to attend the Two Sessions as a member of the CCP advisory body.

The Two Sessions is an annual conference between the CCP leglative body and the CCP national advisory body.

Next, Apple Taiwan reported on Donnie Yen’s response to his new title, “I have always done what I think is right in my movies. You can always see my spirit in my films—that is, my spirit and responsibilities as a Chinese person. It is an honor to be recognized by the country.”

New Role to Influence Youth Development

Yen stated his role as a new member of the CCP national advisory body would be to attract more investment and expand the demands of Chinese movies, so the industry could create more filmmakers, making the country proud.

Yen also planned to send particular messages through his movies. “I will focus more on nurturing Chinese film culture. As a father, I want to concentrate more on children and youth development in China.”

The John Wick star also mentioned he would use the work of himself and his idol, Bruce Lee, to tell “a great China story.”

Guangzhou to Hong Kong

Yen has been acting since the 1990s. He is the third Hong Kong actor to become a member of NPCC, after Liza Wang and Jackie Chan.

Born in 1963 in Guangzhou, Donnie Yen Tze-dan, migrated to Hong Kong with his family when he was two years old before the Cultural Revolution took place in Guangxi between 1966 and 1976. His father was a newspaper editor. The Guanxi Cultural Revolution Massacre had killed about 150,000 people, who were slaughtered, beaten, beheaded, and buried alive.

Later, Yen’s family moved to the United States, where Yen began studying kung fu with his mom at a Chinese martial art center she founded in Boston.

Yen practiced martial arts because he had idolized Bruce Lee since his childhood. Yen said the series of Yip Man movies was a homage to Lee’s legacy in martial arts.

Be water

While Donnie Yen’s martial art is deeply influenced by Bruce Lee, throughout the Hong Kong Protests in 2019, Bruce Lee’s philosophy of “Be water, my friend.” was extensively used to demonstrate the spirit of the protesters: an ideal of being flexible, calm, and flowing like water, to represent their means of non-violent demonstration.

John Wick 4, an upcoming movie in which Donnie Yen plays a blind assassin alongside Keene Reeves, is set to premiere at the end of March.