Mainland Chinese actress Li Bingbing is one of a number of Asian stars whose careers are feeling the effects of an eruption of nationalistic sentiments fueled by Asia’s current territorial disputes.
Li has a substantial role in Resident Evil: Retribution. But when its world premiere was scheduled for Tokyo, Li decided not to attend the premiere to express her sympathy with Chinese protesting Japan’s claim to the Diaoyu (Senkaku) Islands. Li was removed from the Japanese version of the movie poster and her scenes appear to have been cut from the Japanese version of the film itself. It wasn’t clear whether the scenes were cut before or after Li refused to attend the premiere.
Li Bingbing had entered the project with high expectations. To prepare for the role she had received marksmanship training and even insisted on shooting her fight scenes without a body double. Her role is in the fifth of a series of zombie action films based on the popular video games of the same name.
Li’s agent denied speculations that Li was prevented from attending the premiere was due to restrictions imposed by the Japanese government. Instead he claimed that Li — one of China’s busiest actresses — had conflicting engagements in Beijing. But he added, “We are on the same side as the government, the Diaoyu islands belong to China and Li Bingbing will go to the film’s world premiere anywhere except Tokyo.”
Li isn’t the only entertainer whose career has suffered due to the recent flareup of ongoing territorial disputes. South Korean actress Gu Hye-seon was also forced to cancel a promotional tour of Japan after cancellation of the airing of the Taiwanese film My Perfect Darling in which Gu stars. The cancellation may have been due to her vocal support of Korea’s sovereignty over Dokdo (Takeshima) islet, according to Hong Kong media quoted by Sina Entertainment Net.
