"Korans were burned, mosques closed, Islamic schools banned," Mesut Özil wrote on Instagram and criticized the oppression of the Uighurs in China. However, the People's Republic does not want to know anything about it. China considers Özil "deceived by fake news". Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said that Özil's judgment was influenced by "false remarks" and Özil would like to get his own picture of Xinjiang.
"As long as he has common sense, can clearly distinguish between right and wrong and upholds the principles of objectivity and fairness, he will see another Xinjiang," said Geng.
- Read here why Özil's statement is so explosive
China was accused by Germany and 22 states of the UN at the end of October of suppressing the Muslim minority in the province. In late November, leaked documents from the Communist Party provided evidence of internment camps in the region.
According to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), the data from the so-called "China Cables" show that Uyghurs are detained for one year, swear off their religion and instead adopt the ideology of the Communist Party. In Germany, the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" reported on the documents. It is estimated that more than a million Uighurs are currently interned in northwest China.
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Özil had campaigned for the Uyghurs on social media and at the same time criticized Muslim countries for doing nothing to suppress the Uyghurs. Özil's club Arsenal immediately distanced themselves from the comments of his player. Chinese TV broadcaster CCTV canceled Arsenal's Premier League game against Manchester City on Sunday.
