What happened and why Kudos to the hawk-eyed armchair dwellers that sat through the Mulan credits to spot Disney (-1.66%) offering “special thanks” to 8 government entities in China's Xinjiang region. Part of Disney's latest release was shot in the region that is home to millions of Uighurs and Muslim minorities, that have suffered human rights abuse. ✊ Boycott... Disney's remake of Mulan is already the target of a boycott and has come under immediate fire for filming in Xinjiang, since its release last Friday. The film is an adaptation of Disney’s 1998 animation about Hua Mulan, a young woman who disguises herself as a man to fight in the imperial army. One of Disney's grovelling thanks went to the public security bureau in Turpan, a city in eastern Xinjiang where several 're-education camps' have been documented. Re-education camps? China claims it's running job-training centres and combating Islamic extremism... but there is enough evidence to suggest excessive surveillance, physical and verbal abuse, and a possible “demographic genocide"... 1 Million... China has faced international scrutiny over its treatment of Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, with estimated 1 million+ residents have been detained in internment camps.“Demographic genocide”... Uighur women have reported forced sterilisations and birth control as part of a government campaign to suppress birthrates. And the timing leaves no excuses... Filming took place in 2018, the same year China’s “strike hard” campaign in Xinjiang ramped up with the construction of the camps. Disney's silence on the issue suggests the company is putting the commercial prospects of the Chinese market ahead of any moral code. In a world now energised by an immediate sharing of information, Disney would do well to re-consider the hole it is digging. | The Takeaway For your investments... Xinjiang is also home to 84% of China’s cotton production and is a major apparel supplier. The White House has begun banning imports from some Xinjiang production sites, but businesses themselves must do more to deliver transparency on their supply chains. Last year a group of human rights lawyers, provided evidence to HMRC that brands including Muji, Uniqlo, H&M and Ikea were selling products in the UK containing cotton and yarn from the Xinjiang region.
