Chinese actress Li Bingbing did not appear at a world premiere held in Tokyo, Japan yesterday for the Hollywood video game-based action movie "Resident Evil: Retribution", raising speculation that her absence was a demonstration against Japan's claim of a disputed island, Hong Kong's local tabloid newspaper The Sun reported.

Li, who plays Ada Wong in the movie, was said to show her stance over the escalating dispute between China and Japan over the Diaoyu Islands by pulling out of the premiere.

Li's agent Ji Xiang said that Li had been informed of the premiere two months before but she was too busy in Beijing to attend at that time. Meanwhile, Ji did not deny that politics were involved, saying: "We are in line with our government – the Diaoyu Islands belong to China. Bingbing will be attending movie premieres held in other places across the world and she skipped the Tokyo leg only."

Li co-stars along with Milla Jovovich (The Fifth Element) and Michelle Rodriguez (Avatar) in the fifth installment of the "Resident Evil" franchise, which is written and directed by Jovovich's husband Paul W.S. Anderson. Li's role is crucial to the story and is believed to a stepping-stone to Hollywood.

Jovovich, her Japanese co-star Mika Nakashima and director Anderson showed up at the Tokyo premiere, cheered by hundreds of enthusiastic fans.

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