Springtime for Hitler meets The Sound of Music. 🤯 China produces a musical set in Xinjiang. Even fiction about an authoritarian state's propaganda couldn't have made this up. I read this entire piece with my jaw on the floor. AFP via The Guardian: https://t.co/Zlp4U4Hwr8

— Melissa Chan (@melissakchan) April 4, 2021

A state-backed musical set in #Xinjiang and inspired by Hollywood's La La Land hit #China's cinemas, portraying a version of #Xinjiang that's very different from existing testimonies or reporting. https://t.co/sjthXcurpZ

— William Yang (@WilliamYang120) April 5, 2021

"The movie, whose release was reportedly delayed by a year, focuses on three men from different ethnic groups dreaming of the big time as they gather musical inspiration across cultures in the snow-capped mountains and desertscapes of the vast region."

— William Yang (@WilliamYang120) April 5, 2021

"But the musical omits the surveillance cameras and security checks that blanket Xinjiang. Also noticeably absent are references to Islam – despite more than half of the population of Xinjiang being Muslim – and there are no mosques or women in veils."

— William Yang (@WilliamYang120) April 5, 2021

" Beijing knows that a lie repeated a thousand times becomes truth, he said. To many Chinese, that messaging appears to be working."

— William Yang (@WilliamYang120) April 5, 2021

"The pushback has taken on a pop culture edge, with a rap released this week castigating “lies” by the “western settlers” about cotton from the region, while state broadcaster CGTN is set to release a documentary on the unrest that prompted the Beijing crackdown."

— William Yang (@WilliamYang120) April 5, 2021