Kotaku EastEast is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am. After Chung “Blitzchung” Ng Wai called for the liberation of Hong Kong, Blizzard suspended the Hearthstone player and withheld any prize money. The decision has been widely criticized. Fans have now started posting images of Overwatch hero Mei supporting the Hong Kong protests as a show of solidarity.
In Overwatch, Mei hails from Xi’an, China. By turning her into a symbol of the Hong Kong resistance, fans are showing the character standing up to Chinese rule while thumbing their noses at Blizzard.
Photoshops originated on r/HongKong (here and here) with Redditors encouraging each other to share the images. Twitter users have also been uploading images.
Mei isn’t the only Overwatch character being used to show support for the Hong Kong protests.