Mulan filmed near Uighur camp; Star backed crackdown

FPI / September 10, 2020

Disney is under fire after the end credits in its live action remake of the film "Mulan" revealed some scenes were filmed in Xinjiang Province. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is detaining over 1 million Uighur Muslims in concentration camps in Xinjiang.

"Not only did Disney shoot in the region, but the studio appears to have offered its gratitude to Chinese government agencies involved in alleged abuses," The Hollywood Reporter noted on Sept. 7.

Some viewers on Disney+ noticed on Friday, the day of Mulan's release on the service, a "special thanks" in the film's end credits to eight government entities in Xinjiang, including the public security bureau in the city of Turpan, where China is believed to operate over a dozen concentration camps that hold Uighurs in detention.

The credits also include a thank you to the "publicity department of CPC Xinjiang Uighur Autonomy Region Committee," the CCP agency responsible for producing and managing state propaganda efforts in the region.

"Uighur residents have reported being subjected to grueling political indoctrination regimens, forced labor and forced sterilization — part of an alleged government program to suppress birth rates in the Muslim population," the report noted.

Among the locations Disney chose in China for Mulan were the Mingsha Shan desert, which stretches into Xinjiang, and the Tuyuk Valley, to the east of Turpan. Part of Mulan's production team told Architectural Digest earlier this year that they spent months in Xinjiang researching locations before filming began. Director Niki Caro shared a photo of dessert sand dunes in 2017, captioning it "Day 5 - China Scout" and tagging the location as "Asia/Urumqi," the capital of Xinjiang.

The film's star, Chinese-American actress Liu Yifei, has been criticized after last summer expressing support for the Hong Kong police force's crackdown on the city's pro-democracy movement.

Backlash to Liu's comments has resumed, with pro-democracy and human rights activists in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand banding together under a growing #BoycottMulan campaign, The Hollywood Reporter noted.

Free Press International