Walt Disney Co’s latest live action movie "Mulan," which was filmed in multiple locations in China, has unleashed a fresh maelstrom of controversy on social media after offering special thanks to a group of state organisations in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, where Beijing has reportedly committed severe human rights violations against millions of Uighurs Muslims in detention camps.
The $200-million budget film had already provoked a storm of criticism for being filmed in China's northwest region of Xinjiang, and furthermore, its leading lady Liu Yifei had publicly backed the police crackdown on protesters in Hong Kong, triggering calls overseas for a boycott of the movie.
Some sharp-eyed viewers spotted an unexpected text in the movie on Monday, two days after its debut on Disney Plus.
To add insult to injury, Disney offered a special thanks to eight Xinjiang agencies in the movie's closing credit roll, prompting a renewed global outcry on social media platforms.
The entities mentioned in the movie’s credits include the publicity department of CPC Xinjiang Uighur Autonomy Region Committee and the police bureau in Turpan.
Chinese authorities have told major media outlets not to cover Walt Disney Co's release of Mulan, according to a Reuters report on Thursday.
No reason was given in the notice, but the sources said they believed it was because of the overseas backlash over the film's links to Xinjiang.
Set to open in local theatres on Friday, Disney had high hopes for Mulan in China, but starving it of publicity in the country's strictly censored media would be another blow to the lavish production.
Starring big-name Chinese actors - Jet Li, Gong Li, Donnie Yen and Liu Yifei - and based on a Chinese folk story, Mulan was tailored to appeal to audiences in China, the world's second-largest movie market.
The movie was released on Disney's streaming service in many markets, rather than in cinemas, due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region -- home to many ethnic minority groups, including Uighur Turks -- is predominantly known as East Turkestan in Turkey.
Uighur, a Turkic group that makes up around 45 percent of the population of Xinjiang, has accused China in the past several years of carrying out repressive policies that restrain their religious, commercial and cultural activities.
