China hits back at Turkish Uighur abuse allegations
CHINA hit back on Monday at Tu r k i s h c r it ic i sm over i t s t reat ment of Uig hu r s a nd denied Ankara’s claim that a renowned poet from the Muslim minorit y had died in custody, ca l l i ng it a n “absu rd l ie”.
Turkey ’s foreig n minist r y had released a statement on Saturday severely criticising China’s mass detentions of its Tu r k ic-s pea k i ng Uig hu r s , a nd c l a i m i n g t h a t p o e t Abdurehim Hey it had died serving an eight-year Chinese prison sentence imposed as punishment over “one of his songs”.
But C h i n a on Su nd a y released a v ideo show i ng a man who identif ied himself as Hey it a nd say ing t hat he was a live and well.
“China has made solemn representations toward Turkey. We hope t he releva nt Turk ish persons ca n dist ing u i s h bet ween r ig ht a nd wrong and correct their mist a k e s ,” For e i g n Mi n i s t r y spokeswoman Hua Chunying s a id du r i ng a da i l y pre s s brief ing.
She called the Turkish statement “vile” and urged Ankara to withdraw its “fa lse accusat ions”.
“I saw his [Hey it ’s ] v ideo on l i ne yesterday [ Su nday], show ing t hat he is not only a live but a lso ver y hea lt hy,” she said.
A UN pa nel of e x per t s has said t hat nearly one million Uighurs a nd ot her Turkic-speaking minority groups had be en herde d by t he government into “re-education camps” in China’s northwest e r n X i nj i a ng r e g i on, where most of the countr y’s more than 10 million Uighurs are resident.
Tu rkey had sa id Ch i na’s treatment of Uighurs was “a g r e at emba r r a s s ment f or hu ma n it y ” – perhaps t he strongest condemnation yet from a Muslim countr y.
The Muslim world has been conspicuously quiet on t he Uig hu r i s s ue, pos s i bl y t o avoid Chinese diplomatic or economic reta liation.
T h e pl i g ht o f C h i n a’s Uighurs is closely followed in Turkey due to shared linguist ic, c u lt u r a l a nd rel ig ious links and the presence of tens of t h ou s a nd s of e t h n i c Uighurs t here.
‘No abuse’
In its statement on Sat urday, Turkey did not say how it had learned t hat Heyit died, but sa id t he “t r agedy ha s f urt her reinforced t he react ion of t he Tu rk i sh publ ic opinion towards [the] serious human r ig hts v iolat ions” in Xinjia ng.
But state-controlled China Rad io I nter nat iona l ( CR I ) released a 26-second v ideo on it s Tu r k i s h s er v ic e on Sunday.
“My na me is Abdureh i m Heyit. Today is Februar y 10, 2019,” t he man in t he v ideo says, according to the English subtit les.
“I’m in t he process of being investigated for allegedly violating t he nationa l laws,” he a d d e d , s p e a k i n g w h a t appea red to be t he Uig hur language.
Wearing a black and white
sweater over a collared shirt, he s a id he wa s i n “good health” and has “never been abused”, accord i ng to t he subtit les.
AFP was unable to immediately ver if y t he aut henticit y of t he v ideo or when it was shot.
CRI said it was released to st ate med ia by X i njia ng ’s regiona l government.
X i njia ng has come under i ntensi f y i ng pol ice su r vei llance in recent years follow- ing repeated riots, bombings and attacks on Chinese securit y forces and civ ilia ns.
Beijing at f irst denied a ny X i njia ng detent ion c a mps ex isted, but later ad mit ted people were bei ng sent to what it ca lls “vocationa l education centres”.
But critics say Uighurs are being pressured in the camps to a ssi milate wit h Chinese society and abandon religious a nd cu lt ura l pract ices t hat Beiji ng s e e s a s pot e nt i a l sources of resistance.
The Turkish foreign ministry statement said Uighurs were bei ng “subjected to tor t ure and political brainwashing in concent rat ion cent res a nd prisons”.
Hua, however, appeared to leave the door open to patching up the row, saying the two sides shou ld endeavou r to maintain “mutual trust and cooperation”.
The Chinese government has been accused of a number of other attacks on Uighur people and culture in recent years.
L ate la st yea r, A mer ic a n anthropologist Darren Byler repor ted t hat over one million Han Chinese – China’s dominant ethnic group that make up 92 per cent of t he cou nt r y ’s populat ion – had moved into Muslim Uighur homes uninvited to report on “I s l a m i c o r u n p a t r i o t i c beliefs”.
Byler’s claim was seemingly confirmed in the government’s official newspaper, the People’s Daily, when it reported that more than 1.1 million people were paired up with 1.69 million ethnic minority citizens as of September last year.