In a letter addressed to Disney CEO Robert Chapek on Wednesday, Sen. Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) blasted the Hollywood powerhouse for cooperating with the Chinese Communist Party while filming its new movie Mulan.
"Disney's whitewashing of the ongoing Uighur genocide is contrary to all of your company's supposed principles," Hawley wrote. "Your decision to uncritically approve this film's release rather than apologizing to those harmed by Disney's actions is reprehensible. Your decision to put profit over principle, to not just ignore the CCP's genocide and other atrocities but to aid and abet them, is an affront to American values."
Disney shot the live-action remake of Mulan in the western Chinese province of Xinjiang, where more than one million Uighur Muslims are currently detained in forced labor camps and subject to human-rights abuses. This week, two groups of Uighur expatriates accused the CCP of genocide in the International Criminal Court.
In the credits of the film, Disney thanks several different CCP institutions for their cooperation with Mulan's filming, including both the province's propaganda arm and the security agency that oversees the Uighur labor camps.
Hawley's letter follows recent calls to boycott the film after Liu Yifei, Mulan's lead actress, repeatedly defended Hong Kong's police force during crackdowns on democratic demonstrations. Despite a wave of public outcry, Disney chief financial officer Christine McCarthy said the company is "very pleased" with early box office numbers generated by the film on Wednesday.