This archive report was first published on 19 December 2019.
German footballer Mesut Ozil has sparked controversy in China after criticizing the country's treatment of its Uighur minority in a series of tweets.
On December 13, 2019, Ozil, a midfielder for Arsenal, tweeted in Turkish about the alleged abuses against Uighurs in Xinjiang, a western region of China. He wrote: "Korans are being burnt... Mosques are being shut down... Muslim schools are being banned... Religious scholars are being killed one by one... Brothers are forcefully being sent to camps."
"The Muslims are silent. Their voice is not heard," he added, using the flag of 'East Turkestan', a term used by many Uighur separatists to refer to Xinjiang.
NetEase, the China distributor of the popular Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) mobile game, announced on its verified Chinese social media accounts that Ozil's comments had "hurt the feelings of Chinese fans and violated the sport's spirit of love and peace".
"We do not understand, accept or forgive this comment," the company said.
As a result, Ozil was removed from the Chinese version of the game.
China has faced growing international condemnation for its treatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang, with rights groups and experts estimating that over one million people have been incarcerated in the region.
China initially denied the existence of the camps, but later acknowledged them, saying they were vocational training centers.
Following Ozil's comments, Chinese state television dropped plans to broadcast Arsenal's match, and discussion of the topic is now heavily censored in China.
China's reaction to Ozil's comments is similar to its response to the NBA's Houston Rockets after its general manager Daryl Morey tweeted support for Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters in October 2019.
