“Why don’t you use the term ‘Chinese New Year’?” Chinese netizens criticize Michelle Yeoh and more
Chinese actors working in Hollywood are being criticized by Chinese netizens after their holiday greetings.
On Jan 24th, many media outlets reported that actors Michelle Yeoh and Daniel Wu, the main characters of Disney+’s new series “American Born Chinese”, are being criticized by Chinese netizens for not using the term “Chinese New Year” in their video greetings released for the holiday.
Michelle Yeoh greeted “Happy New Year” in English. Daniel Wu appeared alongside Ben Wang, another actor from the series, and said “Happy Lunar New Year” in English.
In addition, other actors and Chinese staff who appeared in “American Born Chinese” used the word “Lunar New Year” instead of “Chinese New Year” in the video.
Chinese netizens point out that Chinese actors do not use the word “Chinese New Year” and criticize them for forgetting the root.
In 2018, world-renowned model Liu Wen posted the message “Happy Lunar New Year” on her SNS account. When Chinese people criticized, she rewrote it as “Happy Chinese New Year“.
Recently, the British Museum received malicious comments as they used the term “Lunar New Year” on Twitter. Chinese netizens also criticized that holiday messages using “Lunar New Year” were posted on Disneyland’s official Twitter.
Meanwhile, there is a growing public opinion in Korea that it is right to use the term Lunar New Year rather than Chinese New Year as it is not only a Chinese holiday but a universal culture in Asia such as Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines and Mongolia.
Source: Nate
