Hong Kong actor Edison Chen publicly supports Black Lives Matter, to mixed response

Edison Chen (陈冠希 Chén Guānxī), a Hong Kong-born actor and fashion entrepreneur, is facing backlash after showing solidarity with U.S. protesters in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

On May 31, Chen took to Instagram to share a #BlackLivesMatter-themed video made by Nike, in which the company urged viewers not to “pretend there’s not a problem in America” while anti-racism demonstrations erupted across the country. A day later, Chen shared a poster on Instagram showing his support for the movement and demanding changes to end police brutality. “Asians for Black Lives Matter,” the poster says. In the caption, Chen wrote, “Yellow peril supports black panthers.”

In response, a number of people criticized Chen for “misusing” the platform he had as a pop star to call attention to racism against black people, rather than Asians. “When asian got killed by black, where r u?” the most-liked comment reads. Some people also accused Chen for his silence on last year’s pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong, where thousands of protesters swarmed the city’s streets in a string of demonstrations and clashed with police. “Why don’t u stand for Hong Kong protestors then?” an Instagram user wrote.

Chen didn’t immediately address the criticism. But later that day, when people continued questioning him in the comments of another Instagram post, Chen hit back with a direct reply.

He wrote: “I was the only one who stepped up and said covid aint Chinese, wash the hate…” He said every time his fashion label landed a high-profile collaboration with Western brands, he was representing Chinese people. “Do ya homework before u speak up.”

Back in March, when anti-Asian sentiment was on the rise globally in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chen wrote on Instagram: “COVID-19 IS A GLOBAL PROBLEM / SO STFU AND STOP BEING RACIST / ITS 2020 YALL.”

Today, Chen doubled down on his stance on anti-black racism by joining the “Blackout Tuesday” campaign on Instagram, uploading a solid black square in solidarity.

As people in many parts of the world continue channeling their anger and frustration over Floyd’s death into marches and demonstrations, more and more celebrities around the world, including a group of k-pop artists, have expressed their support for the Black Lives Matter movement. But in China, where celebrities are expected to stay apolitical and disengage from foreign issues, almost no influential artists have shown any solidarity with the black community.