Disney's live-action remake of Mulan is facing mounting criticism including calls for a boycott over the film's ties to human rights abuses by the government of China.
The movie was released last week on Disney Plus and its end credits include special thanks given to the Turpan Municipal Bureau of Public Security - which is involved in running the notorious Uighur internment camps.
More than a million Muslims, mostly of the Uighur minority, have been placed into camps in the Xinjiang region. Those who have managed to escape the camps say detainees are subjected to abuse including torture, forced sterilisation, brainwashing and forced labour.
Mulan's lead actress Liu Yifei also caused controversy by reportedly sharing a message on social media platform Weibo stating: "I support Hong Kong's police, you can beat me up now" and "what a shame for Hong Kong."
On Twitter, the hashtag #BoycottMulan has become popular since the film's September 4 release.
Newshub approached Disney NZ about the plight of the Uighur people, the Mulan credit thanking the Turpan Municipal Bureau of Public Security and the situation in Hong Kong.
A representative said the company has no comment.
Mulan's New Zealand director Niki Caro is also receiving comments on her personal Instagram account about the controversy.
The Whale Rider filmmaker posted a photo in 2017 from the Xinjiang region that has been attracting outrage in recent days.
"Shame on you, Niki. Did you see my family members suffering from China's genocide of the Uyghurs? How could you sleep?" asked one commenter.
"Please bring attention to what is happening to the Uyghurs in their own beautiful homeland at the hands of the Chinese government," added another.
Axios reporter Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian tweeted that the credit thanking the Turpan Municipal Bureau of Public Security was "truly outrageous" given it is "deeply involved" in running the Uyghur camps.
In an opinion piece for the Washington Post, journalist Isaac Stone Fish sharply condemns Disney for working with the Chinese government agencies.
"Disney worked with regions where genocide is occurring, and thanked government departments that are helping to carry it out," wrote Fish.
"Disney offers a special thanks to more than a dozen Chinese institutions that helped with the film. These include four Chinese Communist Party propaganda departments in the region of Xinjiang as well as the Public Security Bureau of the city of Turpan in the same region - organisations that are facilitating crimes against humanity.
"It's sufficiently astonishing that it bears repeating: 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."
Disney has also not commented to international news outlets about the controversies.
