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[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Jo Young-shin] Chinese mainland netizens have started a boycott campaign while criticizing a Hong Kong actress, reported the Chinese state-run Global Times on the 4th.

The Hong Kong actress targeted by Chinese mainland netizens is Ali Lee. She is a Hong Kong drama actress and an announcer for the Hong Kong private broadcaster TVB.

The criticism from Chinese mainland netizens began after she won the Best Actress award for the drama AI Romantic. Netizens took issue with a post she made on Instagram during the 2019 anti-China Hong Kong protests (referred to as the Hong Kong riots in China). They claimed that she commented "beautiful flag" on a photo showing the Chinese national flag (Five-star Red Flag) hung upside down and asked people to "like" it.

Chinese netizens accused her of "having two faces." They criticized her for expressing support for the anti-China Hong Kong protests on Instagram while posting patriotic messages on Weibo (the Chinese version of Twitter).

One Chinese netizen posted on Weibo, "Ali Lee, an unpatriotic person, was given acting opportunities and awards. Boycott TVB," while another netizen posted a critical message saying, "She crossed the red line."

The Global Times reported that as news of Ali Lee's award spread in Hong Kong, posts criticizing her appeared on Weibo among Chinese netizens, sparking anger from many netizens.

The outlet added that Ali Lee stepped down from her position as a spokesperson for Hong Kong Alipay amid the controversy over her Instagram post.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.