Disney’s remake of Mulan draws criticism for filming in China’s restive Xinjiang region

Disney’s live-action remake of Mulan comes under fire for filming in Xinjiang, the site where the government is reportedly detaining over a million people, mostly Uighur (Uyghur) Muslims

As noted by novelist Jeanette Ng in a tweet on September 7, the credits in Mulan show a “Special Thanks” to the “Publicity Department of CPC Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Committee,” the wing of the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s Xianjang government, where it’s been estimated that over a million Uyghur Muslims have been forced into re-education camps.

Mulan specifically thank the publicity department of CPC Xinjiang uyghur autonomous region committee in the credits.

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You know, the place where the cultural genocide is happening.

They filmed extensively in Xinjiang, which the subtitles call “Northwest China”#BoycottMulan pic.twitter.com/mba3oMYDvV

— Jeannette Ng 吳志麗 (@jeannette_ng) September 7, 2020

As the criticism grew, it led to thousands of retweets saying that supporting Mulan is tantamount to being complicit in these human rights violations. Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong and internet users in Taiwan and Thailand are among those who promoted hashtags “#BoycottMulan” and “#BanMulan” on Twitter.

Wong, tweeted: “When you watch #Mulan … you’re also potentially complicit in the mass incarceration of Muslim Uyghurs.”

But this is not the first time Disney has faced backlash. Mulan’s leading actress, Yifei Liu, in August 2019 expressed her support for China’s crackdown on human freedoms in Hong Kong.. “I support the Hong Kong police. You can all attack me now. What a shame for Hong Kong,” she posted on the Chinese blogging site Weibo.

Wong brought up Liu’s comments on September 4, when the movie launched on Disney Plus, encouraging “everyone who believes in human rights to #BoycottMulan.”

Asked about the reaction to the film’s Xinjiang shooting, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian restated Beijing’s denial of the existence of re-education camps in the region, calling facilities there vocational and educational institutions and accusing anti-China forces of smearing its Xinjiang policy.

The movie, reported to have cost $200 million to produce, had been scheduled to reach theatres in March, but its release was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last month, Disney said Mulan would skip most theatres and go directly to its Disney+ platform.

With inputs from Reuters