Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) led thirteen members of Congress on Friday in a letter to the CEO of The Walt Disney Company condemning the company’s decision to cater to Chinese Communist Party censorship by removing an episode of “The Simpsons” from its Disney+ streaming service in Hong Kong because it contains a joke about Chinese censorship of the Tiananmen Square Massacre.
“Censoring content and scrubbing history to paint communist China in a better light is disturbing. It’s sad that the Disney Company has chosen to go the route of undermining American principles while doing the bidding of the Chinese Communist Party,” Rep. Jeff Duncan told American Military News in an email. “Walt Disney animatedly fought against the rising tides of Communism and fascism, and this action is a betrayal of the founding principles of Disney.”
The episode that Disney removed in Hong Kong is entitled “Goo Goo Gai Pan.” In the episode, Homer Simpson takes his family to China, where they visit Tiananmen Square. While in the area, the family discovers a placard that states: “On this site, in 1989, nothing happened,” mocking China’s ongoing efforts to cover up the Chinese government’s deadly attack on protesters.
The cartoon family also visits the mummified remains of Communist Chinese Leader and mass murderer Mao Zedong, and they encounter a row of tanks in Beijing, a nod to the well-known “tank man” photo captured during the Tiananmen Square Massacre.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the decision to remove the episode in Hong Kong was voluntary.
“The fact that Disney would delete a satirical cartoon episode that has the potential to expose the evils of the Chinese Communist Party is disgusting and worthy of condemnation. I am very disturbed by Disney’s weak-kneed response in seemingly cowing down to China’s narrative,” said Rep. Duncan continued. “It is no secret the Chinese Communist Party is committing genocide against Uyghur Muslims and is known for human rights violations and crimes against humanity. If they are also influencing the decisions of any American company, especially Disney, this should be exposed and reversed.”
“China wishes to wipe the Tiananmen Square protests and massacre of 1989 out of history, and it seems Disney is attempting to help achieve this goal. I strongly encourage Disney to reverse its course if it is complicit in any way with the Chinese government, and tell the Chinese Communist Party to ‘Eat My Shorts,’” he added.
