Chinese Communist Youth League Wins: Film Drops Taiwanese Actor from Project

After weeks of pressure online and a threat of boycott by Chinese ultranationalists, a film studio has given in and chose to replace Taiwan’s award-winning actor Leon Dai 

Following an online campaign attacking Chinese actress-turned-director Vicky Zhao (趙薇) for starring Taiwanese actor Leon Dai (戴立忍) in her upcoming movie “No Other Love,” the film studio said in a press release on July 15 that it has decided to drop the actor while the movie is still in production. 

Starting in late June, Chinese netizens and the Chinese Communist Youth League launched a boycott of Zhao’s movie, accusing Dai of supporting Taiwanese independence and Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement, among other things. Several nationalistic netizens observed that Zhao should put the state interest before “idol worship.” 

My article, published today in The News Lens International, continues here.