read the original here:
https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/donnie-yen-interview-2023/amp
Yen is proudly Chinese (it’s been reported that he gave up his US citizenship in the late aughts; he has since described himself as “100 per cent Chinese”) and is still amazed at the progress that he has witnessed in his home country during his lifetime. “Most of the people outside of China don’t see it until they are there,” Yen says. “The modernisation. I have been in so many countries in the world, but it’s not even close. The progress – the freeways, the architecture, the convenience of lifestyle.” He is upset when the Western media focuses only on negative stories about China. “The BBC, CNN, they never talk about that. They never mention the true side of it. But I’m there, you know?”
Yen’s Chinese patriotism can get him into trouble – most notably during the 2019 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, when Yen’s pro-Beijing stance prompted many cinemagoers in his home city to boycott his movies. “It wasn’t a protest, OK, it was a riot,” Yen says. “I’m not going to be here talking about how to change how people feel about it. But I was there, I have many friends who were there. I don’t want to get political. A lot of people might not be happy for what I’m saying, but I’m speaking from my own experience.”