Walt Disney Co's release of “Mulan,” which is set in China and meant to appeal to audiences there, has provoked a backlash on social media over its star's support of Hong Kong police and for being partly filmed in the Xinjiang region.
Mulan specifically thank the publicity department of CPC Xinjiang uyghur autonomous region committee in the credits.
— Jeannette Ng 吳志麗 (@jeannette_ng) September 7, 2020
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
Several state organizations in Xinjiang appeared in the film's credits, according to social media posts.
“In the new #Mulan, @Disney thanks the public security bureau in Turpan, which has been involved in the internment camps in East Turkistan,” the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress tweeted on Monday.
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.
It just keeps getting worse! Now, when you watch #Mulan, not only are you turning a blind eye to police brutality and racial injustice (due to what the lead actors stand for), you're also potentially complicit in the mass incarceration of Muslim Uyghurs. #BoycottMulan https://t.co/dAMgZ6PWTD
— Joshua Wong 黃之鋒 😷 (@joshuawongcf) September 7, 2020
Wong, the Hong Kong activist, accused Disney of “kowtowing” to China, citing Liu and another actor's support for police in the territory and the movie's credits mentioning state organizations in Xinjiang.
“We urge people around the world to boycott the new Mulan movie,” he told Reuters on Tuesday.
Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.