Taiwan actor Leon Dai has been fiercely criticized on the Chinese mainland recently due to the accusation that he is a "Taiwan independence" advocate, which he denied but has already cost him several upcoming films and probably his career on the mainland.

Chinese actress and director Zhao Wei has cast Dai in the leading role of her second directorial work "No Other Love". But as the cast were revealed on Zhao's Weibo account in April, internet users started to complain about the casting of Dai and Mizuhara Kiko; the former was accused of supporting Taiwan independence while the latter was accused of being anti-China.

Zhao ignored the internet noise and went on with the production. The film wrapped up filming on June 27 while the controversies started to reach a climax.

Thousands of angry voices began to create a boycott of the film while the official accounts of Dai and "No Other Love" on Weibo both issued statements on June 30 denying that he is a "Taiwan independence" advocate and accusing some internet users of spreading false rumors.

But the statements didn't quiet down the widespread doubts. Internet users collected evidence such as screen grabs of Dai's facebook account and reports from other media outlets, which clearly showed that Dai had shown his support for Taiwan's Sunflower Student Movement and for the illegal Occupy Central movement in Hong Kong, as well as support for some art performances backed by the exiled cult known as the Falun Gong.

Later, the Communist Youth League joined the fight on July 6 using its own website and social media to criticize Zhao over Dai's alleged support for Taiwan independence, which intensified the criticism.

On July 14, the military newspaper China's National Defense News also reported the controversy and added an editorial comment saying the national emotion is inviolable and any acts to hurt the national emotion will be protested and boycotted, "arts have no boundaries, but artists have nationality and should respect public feelings and a moral basis, and being patriotic is a basic ethic."

The next day, the film studio apologized to the public for not doing enough background checks and announced they will replace Dai in the film as the actor remains vague regarding several doubts raised by internet users, which angered the film's director and investors, including Alibaba Pictures Group, China Film Group, Cheerland Entertainment and Pulin Production.

Director Zhao Wei also apologized and reiterated her patriotism.

Actress and model Mizuhara Kiko released a video apologizing to the Chinese public. She is no longer associated with Zhao's film.

Dai later published a long statement expressing his regret of the controversy and support for replacing him in the film. But he still maintained that he was never an advocate for "Taiwan Independence" and has never joined any political parties.

It will be big blow to the film "No Other Love" as the film was supposed to go into post-production. The film may be re-shot and it will cost a good amount of money.

Dai's appearances in other films will also be affected. His cameo for the mainland-Taiwan co-produced romantic film "At Cafe 6," directed by Teng-jing Shu, set for release on July 29 on the Chinese mainland, was completely deleted. "Peaceful Island," another film he stars in and was originally supposed to debut on the mainland on July 29, has scrapped its release date.

Last December, Ma Xiaoguang, the spokesman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, stated that China would never allow for the continued support of those who made money in the mainland but at the same time also supported separatist activities such as advocating "Taiwan Independence" and ruining relationship across the Strait.

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