Arab League Denies Uyghur Genocide During Staged Visit to Uyghur Region, Echoing China’s Propaganda and Raising Global Alarm

Arab League Denies Uyghur Genocide. Experts call China’s use of the Arab League visit a propaganda attempt to deny the Uyghur genocide.

June 7, 2023

By Uyghur Times Staff

A delegation of diplomats and officials from the Arab League visited northwest China’s Uyghur region from May 30 to June 2, following high-level meetings of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum. State media reported that the delegation praised China’s development, stability, and cultural preservation efforts in the region.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said the group visited Urumqi and Kashgar, including mosques, Islamic institutes, local enterprises, and exhibitions on counterterrorism and deradicalization. “Arab countries have commended the care that Muslims in the Uyghur region and people of other ethnic minority groups have received and expressed their firm support for China’s effort to promote the Uyghur region’s development and ensure its stability,” Wang said at a press briefing in Beijing.

Xinhua reported that delegates described the Uyghur region as a place of harmony and prosperity, highlighting renovations of Kashgar’s old town and modern infrastructure developments. Mohamed Moustafa Kamal Mohamed, Egypt’s permanent representative to the Arab League, said he was “very glad to see that the historic mosque in Kashgar is well preserved and equipped with modern facilities.”

However, independent experts and human rights advocates sharply criticized the visit, describing it as a staged attempt by Beijing to present a misleading narrative.

Adrian Zenz, senior fellow and director of China studies at the Washington-based Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, called the visit a “terrible betrayal” of Uyghur rights. Abdulhakim Idris, director of the Center for Uyghur Studies in Washington, said in an email to VOA that the delegation’s support should be viewed in the context of China’s economic and diplomatic leverage over many Arab countries. “This visit is the latest example of the Chinese Communist Regime’s propaganda efforts to hide the Uyghur Genocide in the Uyghur region from world public opinion,” Idris said.

The UN human rights office has repeatedly documented serious violations in the Uyghur region, including arbitrary detention, forced labor, cultural assimilation, mass surveillance, and restrictions on religious and linguistic freedoms. Many Western governments, including the United States, have classified the treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities as genocide—a charge China vehemently denies.

Experts say the Arab League delegation’s public statements, highlighted in Chinese media, stand in contrast to these findings. “Today, China has made many countries from both the Arab world and the Muslim regions dependent on it, both economically and diplomatically,” Idris noted. “As a result, these countries often align with Chinese narratives, regardless of the ongoing human rights crisis in the Uyghur region.”

While Chinese state outlets including Xinhua, China Daily, and the Global Times framed the visit as an endorsement of China’s human rights record, the Arab League itself did not post updates or statements regarding the trip on its official website or social media platforms.

Observers say the visit illustrates China’s ongoing strategy to use diplomatic engagement as a tool to counter international scrutiny of its policies in the Uyghur region, particularly allegations of genocide and forced assimilation.