9/8/2020 Disney criticised for filming Mulan in China's Xinjiang province - BBC News

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Disney criticised for filming Mulan in China's Xinjiang province

7 September 2020

BBC/HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

Disney is under fire for shooting its new film Mulan in parts of China where the
government is accused of serious human rights abuses.

The final credits thank a government security agency in Xinjiang province, where about 1m
people - mostly Muslim Uighurs - are thought to be detained.

The film was already the target of a boycott after its lead actress backed a crackdown on
Hong Kong protesters.

Disney has not commented on the row over the locations and the credits.

China says its detention camps in Xinjiang are necessary to improve security.

The live-action film, which is one of the biggest releases of the year, is a remake of the 1998
animated story of a young girl who takes her father's place in the army.

But fans in some Asian countries called for a boycott after Chinese-born actress Liu Yifei
made comments supporting Hong Kong's police who have been accused of violence against
pro-democracy protesters in recent months.

Then, on Monday, social media users noticed that in the credits Disney thanked a number
of government entities in Xinjiang, including the public security bureau in the city of Turpan
and the "publicity department of CPC Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomy Region Committee".
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9/8/2020 Disney criticised for filming Mulan in China's Xinjiang province - BBC News

Mulan specifically thank the publicity department of CPC Xinjiang

uyghur autonomous region committee in the credits.

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

Report

The public security bureau in Turpan is tasked with running China's "re-education" camps
where Uighurs are held in detention, China expert Adrian Zenz told the BBC.

The "publicity department" named by Disney is responsible for producing state propaganda in
the region, he adds.

It is believed that one million Uighur people have been forcibly detained in the high-security
prison camps in recent years.

Leaked documents and testimonies from camp survivors reveal that inmates are locked up,
indoctrinated and punished, claims which China has dismissed as "fake news".

In 2018 a BBC investigation found evidence of security compounds built in the desert
in Xinjiang.

A model's video gives rare glimpse inside internment

Who are the Uighurs?

Detained for beards, veils and internet browsing

Mr Zenz described Disney as "an international corporation profiteering in the shadow of

concentration camps".

The World Uygar Congress tweeted "in the new Mulan, Disney thanks the public security
bureau in Turpan, which has been involved in the internment camps in East Turkistan."

Activist Shawn Zhang also criticised the company, writing "how many thousands of Uighur
were put into camps by Turpan Bureau of Public Security when filming Mulan there?"

Turpan was the site of the first "re-education camps" where Uighur women wearing veils or
men wearing beards were detained, Mr Zenz explained. The public security bureau is also
responsible for managing construction of the camps and hiring police to staff them, he added.

The earliest evidence of "re-education" work of Uighurs in Turpan is from August 2013, Mr
Zenz claims.

In June, he issued a report which uncovered evidence that China was forcing Uighur
women to be sterilised or fitted with contraceptive devices, a practice that China denies.

China says it is fighting the "three evil forces" of separatism, terrorism, and extremism in
Xinjiang and says the camps are voluntary schools for anti-extremism training.

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9/8/2020 Disney criticised for filming Mulan in China's Xinjiang province - BBC News

China's hidden camps

In 2017 Mulan director Niki Caro posted photos on Instagram from the capital of Xinjiang. The
production team behind the film also told the Architectural Digest magazine that they spent
months in Xinjiang to research filming locations.

Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong has also condemned Disney, tweeting that
viewers watching Mulan are "potentially complicit in the mass incarceration of Muslim
Uighurs".

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

Report

Related Topics

Disney China Xinjiang Hong Kong Uighurs

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