Disney has claimed it was not responsible for thanking the Chinese Communist party in the credits at the end of the film Mulan, saying the decision was taken by local contractors.
In a letter to the Commons business select committee, the film company is unapologetic about its refusal to accept a request to give evidence in person to the committee.
Disney also says it was required to comply with Chinese laws at all times.
Disney has been widely criticised by British politicians for filming parts of Mulan in Xinjiang province where there are widespread claims, including by the British government, that human rights abuses are being carried out on the Uyghur people by the Chinese Communist party.
The letter sent by Sean Bailey, the president of Walt Disney studios motion pictures, says: “Chinese regulations prohibit foreign producers from operating independently and require them to partner with a Chinese production company.”
It explains Disney hired Beijing Shadow Times Culture, a private company it said had worked with , “to provide production-related services in China”.
Those mentioned in the movie’s credits for thanks include the publicity department of CPC Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Committee and the police bureau in Turpan, an ancient Silk Road city in eastern Xinjiang that has a large Uyghur population.
“It is standard practice across the film industry worldwide to acknowledge in a film’s credits the cooperation, approvals and assistance provided by various entities and Disney individuals over the course of a film’s production,” Bailey wrote.
“In this case, the production company, Beijing Shadow Times, provided our production team with the list of acknowledgments to be included in the credits for Mulan. The Walt Disney Company has no separate, independent or ongoing relationship with government authorities in the Xinjiang autonomous province.”
The filming in Xinjiang only lasted four days, the company added.
The company filmed the bulk of Mulan in New Zealand, but for reasons of authenticityused 20 locations throughout China, including the Kumtag Desert in Xinjiang, home to an important passageway along the Silk Road.
Disney said: “The decision to film in each of these locations was made by the film’s producers in the interest of authenticity, and was in no way dictated or influenced by state or local Chinese officials.”
China has vehemently rejected claims of a genocide as a lie, although the foreign minister Nigel Adams this week said it was a step forward that China admits the detention camps exist.
