‘It will have serious implications for Arsenal’ – China on Ozil

CHINA ACCUSED Mesut Ozil Monday of being “deceived by fake news” and said he should visit Xinjiang to see for himself after the Arsenal footballer decried the treatment of the region’s Uighur minority.

Ozil, a German national of Turkish origin, condemned China’s crackdown on Muslim minorities in the western region in a tweet on Friday and criticised Muslim countries for failing to speak up about the alleged abuses.

Arsenal have distanced themselves from his comments, but the Premier League club’s 3-0 home defeat to Manchester City on Sunday was pulled from Chinese TV by state broadcaster CCTV.

The furore, which has potentially damaging repercussions for Arsenal and the Premier League in the lucrative Chinese market, follows the opprobrium heaped on the NBA in October after Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted his support for Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters.

“If Mr. Ozil has the opportunity, we will be pleased to see him going to Xinjiang and having a look,” Geng said.

“As long as he has common sense, can make a clear distinction between right and wrong, and upholds the principles of objectivity and fairness, he will see a different Xinjiang.”

Earlier, a Global Times editorial slammed what it called a “clownish performance” from Ozil, 31, describing him as “confused” and “reckless” and saying he had abused his position as a public figure.

“Ozil’s move has ruined his image among Chinese fans and will have serious implications for Arsenal,” warned the state newspaper.

– International condemnation –

China has faced growing international condemnation for setting up a vast network of camps in Xinjiang, which critics say are aimed at homogenising the Uighur population to reflect China’s majority Han culture.

Rights groups and experts say more than one million Uighurs and people of other mostly Muslim ethnic minorities have been sent to the camps in the tightly controlled region.

China calls the facilities “vocational education centres” where “trainees” learn job skills and Mandarin in order to steer them away from extremism after a spate of deadly attacks in Xinjiang, in China’s far west.