Hong Kong protesters arrive at Blizzcon with T-shirts, signs and Winnie the Pooh outfits – CNET

Activision Blizzard

Protestors are out and about on the first day of Blizzcon.


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Blizzcon 2019 got political right off the bat: Protesters are at the gaming event to let everyone in attendance know they support Hong Kong. The protest action at the annual fan festival stems from the company’s banning of a pro Hearthstone player in October after he showed support for the Hong Kong protests, to the displeasure of China’s government. 

Freedom Hong Kong, an organization supporting the pro-democracy protests, was on hand at the Anaheim Convention Center to give away free T-shirts to Blizzcon attendees. On the shirt was the Overwatch character Mei, who has been used by Hong Kong supporters as a protest symbol since the controversy with Blizzard began. On the T-shirt was the phrase “Mei with Hong Kong.” 

During the Blizzcon opening ceremony, company president J. Allen Brack took the stage to apologize for the actions taken in October. 

“We didn’t live up to the high standards that we really set for ourselves,” he said on stage Friday. “For that, I am sorry, and accept accountability.”

There were also multiple attendees dressed up as Winnie the Pooh. The Disney character has been an icon for anti-government protests, and in 2017 China banned Pooh’s image after memes made reference to how Chinese President Xi Jinping looks strikingly similar to the honey-loving bear. (In October, South Park mocked that resemblance, as well as China’s censorship.)


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source: cnet.com