Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) that China supports “Islamic countries using Islamic wisdom to solve contemporary hotspot issues” during a meeting in Pakistan’s capital of Islamabad on Thursday.
“China will continue to support Islamic countries in using Islamic wisdom to solve contemporary hotspot issues, and firmly hold the right to maintaining stability and promoting peace in its own hands,” Wang said.
The Chinese Foreign Minister had a few specific issues that would benefit from “Islamic wisdom” in mind, including the Palestinians, Afghanistan, and most controversially, the long-running struggle between India and insurgents in the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir.
“On the Kashmir issue, we have heard the voices of many Islamic friends again today, and China has the same desire for this,” Wang said.
The Indian government was infuriated by these remarks from Wang – who is allegedly scheduled to pay a “surprise” visit to India on Friday, reportedly to discuss the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Both China and India have refrained from condemning Russia’s actions.
“We reject the uncalled reference to India by the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi,” the Indian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
“Matters related to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir are entirely the internal affairs of India. Other countries, including China, have no locus standi to comment. They should note that India refrains from public judgment of their internal issues,” the Indian Foreign Ministry continued.
This jab was most likely a reference to China’s genocidal campaign against the Uyghurs of Xinjiang province, a group of Muslims whose Islamic wisdom is definitely not supported by Beijing.
Wang’s comment to the OIC about China “firmly holding the right to maintaining stability and promoting peace in its own hands” was also a reference to the Uyghurs and a reminder to OIC members that they need to keep quiet about Xinjiang if they want Chinese money to keep flowing into their coffers.
The Indian government has maintained a “strategic silence” over China’s abuse of the Uyghurs, even during periods of great tension between India and China. Indian media does chastise China for “hating Muslims” on occasion – reports generally greeted with charges of hypocrisy because Muslims face violent discrimination in India.
Pakistan, host of the OIC meeting that Wang addressed, often faces criticism for not only keeping silent on China’s persecution of the Uyghurs but actively supporting it. The 57-member OIC, which incessantly complains about Israel’s handling of the Palestinian situation, has refused countless pleas from the Uyghurs to speak up on their behalf.
Uyghur advocates say Pakistan and the rest of the OIC were bought off with billions of dollars from China’s Belt and Road infrastructure program. The Uyghurs were enraged by the OIC inviting Wang to attend the two-day Islamabad conference as a “special guest.”
“It’s shameful. They cannot call themselves Islamic. This is nothing to do with Islam because China is humiliating Islam and destroying and abusing Islamic traditions,” Uyghur activist Abduweli Ayup told Middle East Eye.
Ayup was especially angry at Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, who ostentatiously denounces “Islamophobia” in the Western world while keeping quiet about China’s systematic destruction of Xinjiang’s Muslims.
“In his neighboring country, up to three million people are in concentration camps and raped and sterilized and forced to eat pork. It’s shameful and hypocritical. How Pakistani people elected this person I don’t know,” he said of Khan.
“We are the grandchildren of great ulama. But because of China’s money, they don’t want to talk about it. They want to sugarcoat,” said another Uyghur activist, Abdugheni Sabit.
Sabit noted the OIC agenda pointedly excluded the Uyghurs as a topic of concern and praised Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu for bringing them up anyway.
“I wish all Muslim countries should follow with him and stand up to defend the rights of their fellow Uyghur brothers and sisters,” Sabit said of Cavusoglu.
India’s WION News suggested China was lending political support to the embattled Khan by making Kashmir the big story at the OIC conference. Khan could be on the verge of losing a no-confidence vote next week, in large part due to Pakistan’s dreary post-coronavirus economy, and has been talking up Kashmir in an effort to rally support.
WION noted Khan aggressively equated Kashmir with the Palestinians – a bold rhetorical gambit for an OIC address – and chastised the Muslim organization for not doing enough against India’s “war crimes.”
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