Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan this week joins China’s top political advisory body in a move analysts say highlights Beijing’s growing “soft power” efforts to project unity between itself and the former British colony.
But the 58-year-old actor, famous in the West for “Rush Hour” and “Police Story”, faces a backlash in his hometown where the mainland is viewed with increasing suspicion.
According to professor Sonny Ho, co-director at the Centre for Greater China Studies, Chan was selected to appear at the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) because his stardom could help promote ties.
“Jackie Chan is acting under the soft power and united front of the PRC (mainland) government,” he said. The “united front” strategy, he said, was a campaign to promote a strong and peaceful homeland, unified with Taiwan.
China’s growing clout over the past decade has seen actors from Hong Kong and Macau drafted into patriotic movies that glorify the country’s past, from the mighty Han Dynasty to the early Communist Party era, Ho added.
The appointment of the martial arts star however was met with derision online in Hong Kong where Chan’s reputation has taken a nosedive in recent years over his pro-Beijing stances such as calling for limits on the right to protest.
