When asked by a Variety reporter what Mulan’s maxim of being loyal, brave and genuine means to her, she said: “To my family and my real self, I am loyal, brave and genuine. I am very proud to be an Asian. Once we know what we want, we try our best to be our best selves.”

Mainland netizens instantly pounced on the word “Asian”, ticking her off for not saying she is Chinese. One online user said: “Even if she changed her nationality, she is still overseas Chinese. But she said she is an Asian. Is she not wanting to acknowledge her ancestry?

“The movie [Mulan] she played in is about one of the most classic Chinese stories. I can’t understand why she said such things … Although she emigrated to America many years ago, almost all of her career happen in China. Her behaviour is ungrateful to her motherland.”

Another user said: “You have become a yellow-skinned American. Why do you still come back to China to make money? To get American nationality, you have to make a pledge to be loyal to America and give up your former country. She has already given up her Chinese identity and her motherland, she has no right to come back [to make money].”

The frenzy to catch out mainland stars for holding foreign passports can be traced to last month (February) when the National Radio and Television Administration announced new rules aimed at clearing up malpractice in the entertainment industry.

Among the rules, one concerned the use of “people with overseas, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwanese nationality” under the section titled “selection and use of main production and on-screen people”. Online netizens and tabloids interpreted this rule as a ban on those with non-mainland nationality from participating in mainland entertainment productions.

As news about the rules spread, the quest to identify stars with foreign nationality has descended into a witch hunt. On March 23, a “star emigrant list” has appeared online, listing the foreign nationalities of various mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwanese stars.

They include mainland actress Siqin Gaowa who was revealed to be Swiss, director Chen Kaige (American), Hong Kong singer Nicholas Tse Ting-fung (Canadian), mainland actress Gong Li (Singaporean), Crystal Liu Yifei (American), basketball star Yao Ming (American), Hong Kong actress Cecilia Cheung Pak-chi (Australian), mainland actress Zhao Wei (Singaporean) and mainland singer Kris Wu Yifan (Canadian).

As the controversy about stars’ nationality further brewed, entertainment news commentators said the interpretation of the new rules as ban on stars with non-mainland nationality is misguided.

Entertainment news blogger Yi Dao wrote on his blog the new rules ban unsavoury stars with overseas, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwanese nationality.

“All the interpretations omit the word “unsavoury” in the original government document listing the rules,” he wrote. “The rules do not aim to ban stars like Kris Wu and Liu Yifei. It aims to sanction overseas Chinese who made speech unfavourable to China. The rules are not a public appeal to take exception to stars with overseas nationality. They are a restriction on those overseas Chinese with dubious morals.”

Another blogger wrote: “Liu Yifei suddenly became public enemy due to this controversy. Some people even called for boycotts of Mulan. It’s not fair to her. She went to American with her mother at the age of 10. She changed her nationality as she needed to enrol in school there. Who can blame her for that?”

When making mainland productions, the government has long asked for submission of the list of people with foreign nationality on the production crew for reference. Uncorroborated rumours of official bans on their participation in mainland productions have surfaced before.

With nationalism in China at full swing and a wave of jingoism sweeping through mainland online chat rooms, the controversy about stars’ nationality is unlikely to blow over in the near future.