Althouse: "Disney has thanked four propaganda departments and a public security bureau in Xinjiang, a region in northwest China that is the site of one of the world’s worst human rights abuses happening today."

September 7, 2020

"Disney has thanked four propaganda departments and a public security bureau in Xinjiang, a region in northwest China that is the site of one of the world’s worst human rights abuses happening today."

"More than a million Muslims in Xinjiang, mostly of the Uighur minority, have been imprisoned in concentration camps.... Disney... worked with regions where genocide is occurring, and thanked government departments that are helping to carry it out.... Disney executives had thought that the original 'Mulan' would please both the Chinese government and Chinese filmgoers. But because Disney had distributed 'Kundun' (1997), a film glorifying the Dalai Lama, Beijing restricted the studio’s ability to work in China. Disney spent the next several years trying to get back into the party’s good graces. 'We made a stupid mistake in releasing "Kundun,"' the then-CEO of Disney Michael Eisner told Premier Zhu Rongji in October 1998. 'Here I want to apologize, and in the future we should prevent this sort of thing, which insults our friends, from happening.' Since then, Disney has endeavored to please Beijing...."

From "Why Disney’s new ‘Mulan’ is a scandal" (WaPo).

"Kundun" deserves a more respectful description than "a film glorifying the Dalai Lama"! This is a beautiful film directed by Martin Scorsese:

27 comments:

Michael K said...: Nice of them to admit it. Now, do Joe Biden.; 9/7/20, 8:45 PM
Gahrie said...: Disney and the NBA are going to have some explaining to do after WW III ends.; 9/7/20, 8:51 PM
mockturtle said...: Nothing wrong with the Dalai Lama except that China hates him. Sucking up to China seems all the rage with the entertainment businesses [which of course include the news media]. IMO, we have much more to fear from China than we do from Russia. Unfortunately we are in hock to her up to our eyebrows.; 9/7/20, 9:01 PM
Michael K said...: China makes the decisions for Hollywood.; 9/7/20, 9:04 PM
chickelit said...: I never thought of Disney as overtly political but this clearly shows that they are. And they act in Disney's best interest and not in America's best interest.; 9/7/20, 9:09 PM
tom said...: @chickelit: Walt Disney used to say that Mickey Mouse is neither a Republican or a Democrat, but an American. Like most large businesses, they don't want to be tagged as partisan, as, for instance, that one hobby story and the chicken restaurant have been. It's not generally good business.

But of course Disney is political. all business is political an big business doubly so.; 9/7/20, 9:23 PM
Original Mike said...: "Unfortunately we are in hock to [China] up to our eyebrows."

If you owe the bank 100 dollars, that's your problem.
If you owe the bank 100 million dollars, that's the bank's problem.; 9/7/20, 9:26 PM
Drago said...: Its as though Disney hired LLR-lefty *****, some Biden family member and ARM to run public relations.; 9/7/20, 9:48 PM
Scotty, beam me up... said...: And to think, Disney (along with Nike, Google, Facebook, the NBA, et. al.) are lecturing the citizens (at least a majority of the citizens) of the United States that we are all a bunch of bigots and that the police are a bunch of thugs out to hurt POC. And yet, here they are kissing the rear end of a repressive regime whose police are not above abusing, imprisoning, and killing its minority citizens. They then tell us to mind our business when we bring it to their attention. There is a term for this: blatant industrial hypocrisy. Disney is aiding and abetting in genocide AND slavery in China. Unfortunately, Disney has gotten control of a big part of our entertainment business by purchasing numerous studios and cable TV channels. Walt Disney must be rapidly rolling over in his grave that the family friendly company he founded is in bed with a ruthless dictatorship.; 9/7/20, 9:52 PM
mockturtle said...: Original Mike @ 9:26: Good point. ;-); 9/7/20, 9:55 PM
Ken B said...: It’s not just Disney. All the media corporations are part of huge enterprises who do business in China and whose advertisers do business in China. They censor the media here to benefit those interests.; 9/7/20, 9:57 PM
bagoh20 said...: So the disgusting history of American companies working with the Nazi has no impact on these greedy ghouls of today doing exactly the same thing, except they know how bad the Chinese are much more than we knew about the Nazis, and they have the horrible historical example. There is no excuse that justifies doing what historically is about the most immoral thing a business can do. The NBA, Disney, Apple, Google are all complicit with slavery and genocide. I do all I can to avoid doing business with any of them or consume their products. It's impossible with Google, but I try. I don't use their browser or their search, which means absolutely nothing to anybody but me. It's ironic that most of the self-described "anti-fascists" probably use them all more than the average person.; 9/7/20, 10:48 PM
doctrev said...: I don't even mind the Chinese ruthlessness in dealing with Disney. I dislike their brutality towards minorities, but they'd be quite correct not to care given what tolerance has done to America.

If any American had half the spine of Xi Jingping, we wouldn't be in this mess right now. But the next year should get a few great candidates. Let's find out.; 9/8/20, 12:08 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: 'We made a stupid mistake in releasing "Kundun,"' the then-CEO of Disney Michael Eisner told Premier Zhu Rongji in October 1998. 'Here I want to apologize, and in the future we should prevent this sort of thing, which insults our friends, from happening.' Since then, Disney has endeavored to please Beijing...."

!!! What an appalling thing to have said!; 9/8/20, 1:46 AM
JAORE said...: I'd bet if you wear a "Uighur's Lives Matter" shirt to an NBA game you'd be banned for life.

Possibly because Le Bron would think it's a sneaky way to say the "N" word.; 9/8/20, 6:24 AM
richlb said...: Remember when the entertainment industry was all-in for "Free Tibet?" My how things have changed. Adam Yaucht must be rolling in his grave.; 9/8/20, 6:24 AM
Jeff Gee said...: Mao is also a character in "Kundrun," a smarmy and vicious one. Scorcese was banned in China for years. There's a very minor subplot in "The Departed" (2007) about Jack Nicholson trying to sell the Chinese government a stolen missile guidance system, which I don't think the real Whitey Bulger ever did. It seems to have been included just to make sure the movie was banned in China. Kind of the opposite of taking a knee, in other words.; 9/8/20, 7:14 AM
mikee said...: A generation or two hence, the free population of China will remember who helped keep the communist boot on their necks. There are more than enough lamp posts in China for every single member of the Communist Party, and enough rope, too, for Disney execs.; 9/8/20, 8:18 AM
Sam L. said...: The WaPoo WaPoops on Disney????? How did THAT happen?????; 9/8/20, 11:02 AM
PM said...: Bizney.; 9/8/20, 12:17 PM
n.n said...: Planned Population, one-child, etc. The Chinese are forward-looking in that traditional, progressive way.; 9/8/20, 12:24 PM
n.n said...: Nothing wrong with the Dalai Lama except that China hates him.

He is a symbol of life, liberty, and opportunity for everyone, but especially the Tibetans who have been overrun through China-sponsored immigration reform.; 9/8/20, 12:26 PM
n.n said...: WaPoo, Bezos et al have grown a backbone since Trump decided to stand, not kneel and go along to get along. Of course, it helps that every neighbor, near and far, has felt the immediate and forward-looking pressure of the Chinese Communists' progress.; 9/8/20, 12:31 PM
gerry said...: I'm fed up with the mouse. Screw the mouse.; 9/8/20, 2:24 PM
Mike of Snoqualmie said...: The WaPoo's screwing up Amazon's deals with China. Bezos will not be happy.; 9/8/20, 3:48 PM
Anthony said...: Cuz featuring a 105-lb female waif battling men twice her size and besting all comers isn't at all unbelievable.; 9/8/20, 5:11 PM
Bob Dobbs said...: To me it is the height of hypocrisy to see NBA players with Nike branded Black Lives Matter jerseys made by slaves in Xinjiang. I get they are protesting black slavery of the past. But they are supporting slavery in the present day against the Uyghers by promoting and using Nike. It's magnitudes more important to address slavery happening now since there's something we could actually do something about it.; 9/9/20, 11:42 AM