Johnny Patterson

Disney’s Mulan is everything Xi Jinping could wish for

Disney's Mulan (Getty images)

The last year has seen a litany of corporates bend the knee to the mighty Chinese Communist party. From HSBC’s ringing endorsement of China’s controversial national security law, to the NBA choosing to denounce a pro-Hong Kong coach, big business has decided that, when it comes to China, profit trumps principle. But Disney’s latest film release, Mulan, is the worst example to date.

Activists have been coordinating a #boycottMulan campaign ever since the lead actress in the film backed the Hong Kong police force. At the height of protests in 2019, Chinese-born American actress Crystal Liu Yifei wrote on Weibo: ‘I support the Hong Kong police. You can all attack me now. What a shame for Hong Kong’.

Now it seems Crystal Liu’s views on Hong Kong are not the only source of controversy when it comes to Mulan. Worse still is the credits reel where Disney lists its ‘special thanks’ to the Chinese Communist party authorities in Xinjiang, and the Turpan public security bureau, for allowing them to film in the region.

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