This archive report was first published on 17 December 2019.
December 17, 2019
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has condemned China's heavy-handed actions against Arsenal football club over Mesut Ozil's support for incarcerated Uighurs.
China dropped state television broadcasts of Arsenal's Sunday match, a move that could have major commercial ramifications in the lucrative Chinese market.
"China's Communist Party propaganda outlets can censor @MesutOzil1088 and @Arsenal's games all season long, but the truth will prevail," Pompeo wrote on Twitter.
The British government also expressed its concerns about China's treatment of Arsenal, saying it "consistently stands up for freedom of speech and expression and we urge other countries to do the same."
China has faced growing international condemnation for setting up a vast network of camps in Xinjiang, where critics say more than one million Uighurs and people of other mostly Muslim ethnic minorities have been sent.
Turkey, which shares linguistic and ethnic ties with the Uighurs, has been outspoken on the issue, but most Muslim-majority countries have been muted, likely mindful of China's commercial and diplomatic power.
