HONG KONG — Emperor Motion Pictures on Friday denied reports that the forthcoming Jackie Chan drama “Shinjuku Incident” has met with resistance from the film bureau in Beijing, the government body that must approve films for release in China.

The $15 million drama, in which action star Chan plays an illegal immigrant working in Japan, originally was scheduled to open in Hong Kong and China this month.

Shot in Tokyo at the beginning of this year, the film now is scheduled for release in China in the first quarter of 2009 instead, an EMP spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter.

Reports in Chinese-language media said Friday that director Derek Yee’s film was refused a release permit in China because of its negative portrayal of Chinese as labourers and gangsters in Japan.

EMP denied the reports and said the film had not yet been submitted for permit approval.

“Postproduction of the film is still under way, and the film has not yet been sent to the Chinese censors,” the EMP spokesperson said.

As well as Jackie, the film also stars Ken Watanabe (”Letters From Iwo Jima”) and Daniel Wu (”Protege”).