Major Muslim group buys into China’s narrative of happy Uyghurs in a stable Xinjiang
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Seeking to promote its rosy narrative about the peace and prosperity enjoyed by majority-Muslim Uyghurs in the far-western region of Xinjiang, China earlier this month invited delegates from the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation to visit and observe.
The propaganda junket – aimed at blunting international criticism of Beijing’s repression that the United States and some Western parliaments have described as genocide and crimes against humanity – seems to have worked.
The delegation traveled to Urumqi, Kashgar, Changi and the Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture, where they saw an exhibit on counter-terrorism and de-radicalization and visited rural revitalization projects, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a regular news conference on Aug. 22. They also visited Uyghur families and religious figures and prayed with local Muslims at a mosque, he said.
Dya-Eddine Bamakhrama, head of the delegation and Djibouti’s permanent representative to the OIC, praised “the prosperity and development of China’s Xinjiang under good governance” on Aug. 20 during the visit, according to a Chinese state-run media report.
Syed Mohammad Fawad Sher, a Pakistani delegate said the visit showed the “remarkable transformation” of Xinjiang, adding that it will “help to address the misconceptions attached with the region,” according to the Associated Press of Pakistan.
Another unnamed OIC member remarked on “the openness and inclusiveness of Xinjiang and the smiles on the faces of people of all ethnic groups.”
‘Violates own charter’
The comments reflect how Muslim nations are increasingly embracing China’s narrative about the Uyghurs and other Turkic peoples in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
The United Nations has documented serious rights abuses of Uyghurs, including arbitrary detentions in “re-education” camps and prisons, intrusive surveillance, the destruction of religious and cultural sites and attempts to eradicate Uyghur language and culture. Uyghurs have also been subjected to torture, forced sterilizations and forced labor.
Muslim nations refrain from speaking up about the treatment of fellow Mulims so as not to upset China, a major investor in developing nations, experts say.
Beijing has rejected the accusations, insisting it is running vocational training facilities in the region to counter extremism.
The OIC has not taken any significant steps to address abuses in Xinjiang, even though its charter declares it seeks “to safeguard the rights, dignity and religious and cultural identity of Muslim communities and minorities in non-Member States.”
Erkin Ekrem, associate professor of Chinese foreign policy at Hacettepe University in Ankara, Turkey, said the OIC has a moral duty to express concerns about the suffering of Muslims around the world and to offer support to the Uyghurs.
“Certain members of OIC countries support China for their geopolitical and economic interests,” he said. “The OIC’s support of China in this case violates its own charter and the core tenets of Islam.”
‘Economic coercion’
The ruling Chinese Communist Party, or CCP, has been influencing other countries, especially developing ones, to support its policies through investment and trade, said Teng Biao, a U.S.-based Chinese academic lawyer and human rights activist.
All but three of the OIC members have signed memorandums of understanding to join the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese President’s Xi Jinping’s ambitious loan-and-infrastructure program that aims to connect Asia with Africa and Europe via land and sea networks to boost regional integration by increasing trade and stimulating economic growth.
“[M]any Islamic countries are completely under the pressure of the CCP and then help the Chinese government to speak about, approve or even praise the CCP’s genocidal policy in Xinjiang,” Teng said. “Behind this is actually economic coercion and political pressure.”
Also, many OIC states are authoritarian countries themselves, with poor human rights records, so they have refrained from criticizing Beijing, he said.
The Chinese government also uses large-scale external propaganda and state-controlled media to create “false appearances,” such as during delegation visits to places like Xinjiang, which are carefully orchestrated, Teng said.
“It is obviously impossible for these so-called delegations to see the concentration camps and the miserable lives of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang,” he said.
“The government also buys some countries through economic aid, including canceling the debts of many countries,” Teng said. “Therefore, the governments of these countries put some economic interests and political interests above their own religious culture and universal values.”
‘China’s lies’
The World Uyghur Congress and Campaign for Uyghurs — two Uyghur rights groups — condemned the visit and called on the OIC to uphold its moral values and principles, and to collectively denounce the ongoing persecution of Uyghurs.
“Unfortunately, many countries in the Muslim world, especially in the Middle East, are very willing and ready to believe in China’s lies about this tragedy, this human rights crisis, because they see China as an anti-Western power,” said Mustafa Akyol, senior fellow at the Cato’s Institute’s Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity.
Adrian Zenz, a researcher at the Washington, D.C.-based Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation and an expert on the Xinjiang region, harshly denounced the OIC’s visit to China.
“High-level OIC delegation visits Xinjiang, praises China’s policies,” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter. “The extent to which this Muslim organization kowtows to Beijing is truly remarkable. Do they really have that much to gain from whitewashing a genocide? What did Beijing offer them?”
Abdulhakim Idris, executive director of the U.S.-based Center for Uyghur Studies, urged OIC members to meet with Uyghurs in exile, including survivors of concentration camps, so they can hear their stories.
Translated by RFA Uyghur. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.