Mulan is one of Jewher Ilham’s favorite Disney cartoons from her childhood. As a child, she dragged her father, Ilham Tohti, along with her to watch the film, which tells the story of a daughter’s filial piety in her father’s stead. She was thrilled to learn that Disney would be making a live-action remake of the film,” says Juul.
I had high hopes until one of my favorite actresses, Liu Yifei, publicly supported the police brutality against the marchers in Hong Kong,” said Juer, “and after she showed her support, I was very excited. After she showed her support, my disappointment in her, or in Mulan, increased dramatically, and then the anticipation was almost gone.”
Liu Yifei’s comments weren’t the only ones that disappointed Juer. Some scenes of “Mulan” were shot in Xinjiang, and Disney thanked the Xinjiang propaganda and public security departments at the end of the film. Juer said she was heartbroken to think that while the movie was being filmed and millions of Uighurs were being held in nearby detention camps, Disney thanked the local public security department.
I also have friends, and many of my friends’ families were sent to concentration camps,” said Juer. I thought about the fact that people are watching this movie to be entertained, to have fun, to get positive energy. But if I really paid to see this movie, I would definitely think of my own family, or my friend’s family, probably in one of the concentration camps near where this movie was shot.”
Juer’s father, Ilham Tohti, an ethnic Uighur scholar, was sentenced to life in prison in 2014 by the Chinese government for “separatist” crimes. Jur, who graduated from Indiana University last year, now works as an advocate for Uighur rights in Washington, D.C. Like Jur, the Washington attorney is a passionate advocate for Uighur rights.
Like Juer, Washington attorney Rayhan Asat is speaking out on behalf of his brother, Ekebayr, who was arrested in Xinjiang. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison by the Chinese government in 2016 and is being held nowhere.
According to Rai Khan, Disney’s actions amount to indirect funding of the Communist Party’s institutions that imprison Uighurs, and violate the norms of corporate social responsibility. The reality of Xinjiang is so different from what Disney portrays that it is a concealment of the truth.
It’s shameful and hypocritical for Disney to publicly endorse and propagandize such a government,” said Rai Khan. It shows that Disney is obviously trying to make money with the public on the topic of women’s empowerment, but at the same time praising and celebrating the country and the government that is committing crimes against humanity, I think that in itself, the whole nature of the movie has changed.”
According to Juer, Disney has always promoted values such as bravery, fairness and loyalty in its animated films, but the new version of Mulan chooses to ignore the realities of Xinjiang and Hong Kong, “forsaking moral boundaries for the sake of money” and now she only sees the word “loyalty”.
Whether it’s loyalty to the Chinese government or Disney’s loyalty to money, in my eyes, in my heart, this kind of positive energy no longer exists.
Rai Khan says the new female power shown in the 1998 animated version of “Mulan” was a great inspiration to her when she was in high school. But 22 years later, with many Uighurs searching for their missing family members, she can no longer look at the 2020 live-action version of Mulan in the same light, as Disney’s actions ironically contrast with the values conveyed in the Mulan story.
If your parents are Mulan’s world, then your family is our world,” says Rai Khan. Uyghur men and women are very brave like Mulan because we are facing a very powerful government and our families are their hostages. When you look at Mulan in this state, what she represents is no longer this story of women’s strength,” says Juul.
And I don’t think about filial piety anymore, because for me, my filial piety is to save my father… It’s completely contradictory to the whole act that Mulan is filming now, because I don’t think there should be concentration camps, there shouldn’t be concentration camps where innocent people are victimized for profit or for any kind of political purpose. I do not support it very much.”
In addition to the millions of Uighurs who have been sent to detention camps, Rehan said, evidence shows that Uighur women have been forcibly sterilized and children sent to orphanages. Among the persecuted Uighurs, especially women, she said, there has been “an astounding display of spirit and love.
In my eyes, the Uyghurs who are really making their voices heard and doing everything to find their parents, their loved ones, their relatives, their brothers and sisters, and the young people in Hong Kong who are out on the streets, protecting their rights, I think they are the real Mulan in my eyes,” says Rai Khan.
Mulan opens in China this weekend. Rai Khan says that China is an information-blocking place, and the Chinese government is desperate to filter out negative information about Mulan, so she understands that people are supporting the film without knowing the truth. But people in the free world should not condone the fact that more and more companies, including Disney, are “indirectly funding the tyranny of the Chinese government,” Raihan said.
It’s not just Sophie Lau who supports the Hong Kong police, it’s Donnie Yen who supports Hong Kong’s National Security Law,” says Khan. We all saw how brutally the Hong Kong police treated the people of Hong Kong. The National Security Law also put an end to one country, two systems, so I felt I had to join the boycott, and I hope that Uyghur friends and other Uyghurs like me who are looking for their relatives will also join the boycott. And more than anything, I hope that all of my friends who are concerned about Hong Kong and the crimes against humanity being committed by the Chinese government against the Uyghurs will join in the boycott of Disney and Mulan,” said Juul.
Juer said, “I’m not going to pay to see this film, even if it’s free, because I don’t want to participate in any way in helping to exploit the Uyghurs in a disguised way, because paying to see this film means that the money may also have gone to some movie studio in Xinjiang to be profited, which I think is helping to expand or maintain this concentration camp in a disguised way.”
Kikul hopes that Disney will respond soon and face the reality of what is happening in Xinjiang and condemn the wrongdoing.
I hope that Disney’s response will include a public apology, one that realizes their mistake and publicly identifies these things that are happening in Xinjiang, and then also that they will point out that the Chinese government is putting Uighurs in concentration camps, education camps, and after all, Disney is a company that the world will be watching.”
It’s hard to accept the fact that my brother is now in a concentration camp,” said Rai Khan. I feel that all the tyranny and destruction that the Chinese government is doing to Uighur will eventually be punished by international law. When that day comes, I want to say to the Disney executives: can you look into the eyes of the victims and say, ‘I’m sorry I didn’t know’?”
At an event Thursday, Disney Chief Financial Officer Mike McCarthy acknowledged that the decision to shoot some scenes of the live-action “Mulan” in Xinjiang has drawn a lot of “attention” to them. She said the 20 locations in China were intended to showcase some of the “unique landscapes and geography” and were intended to more accurately portray the historical background of the country in which they were filmed.
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