Disney is facing heavy criticism, and the phrase “boycott Mulan” has been trending on Twitter after it emerged that they filmed in Xinjiang. This comes after Disney thanked several Chinese government branches involved in the persecution of Muslim Uyghurs in the end credits of the live-action movie Mulan. This includes a thank you to the Turpan Public Security Bureau in Xinjiang. The Turpan Municipality Public Security Bureau was recently included on the US “Entity List” for its involvement in human rights abuses.
Meanwhile, to gain deeper insights into the power struggles within the Chinese leadership, and the culture and thinking among its top leaders, we had the pleasure of speaking with Kay Rubacek of Swoop Films about her new book, “Who Are China’s Walking Dead?” It features personal essays based on exclusive and rare interviews with former Chinese officials, and explains why they refer to themselves as the “walking dead.”
And in other news, the Chinese government has also now begun using Blockchain to power part of its social credit system. Blockchain is one of the main systems at the heart of the Bitcoin electronic currency, and allows for a type of intranet that can exist between devices. The technology is now being used to extend the government’s citizen databases from online monitoring across different provinces in China, so that people can’t escape their citizen profiles when traveling to a different province.
These stories and more in this episode of Crossroads. #BoycottMulan #XinjiangDisneyland #ChinaStreamersShutDown