The International Union of East Turkistan Organizations representing the Muslim Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims of East Turkistan, is deeply concerned and disappointed by an official letter penned down by Dr. Ali Sallabi, assistant secretary of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) especially for Xi Jinping, kowtowing in praise of China for its involvement in current Palestine-Israeli conflict. The letter was written on 25 October 2023, published on the official websites of IUMS and the Palestine Scholars Association (PSA). The letter contained praise of Xi’s position in support of Palestine’s self-determination, equating China and the Palestinian struggle for independence against colonialists, and praising ‘Chinese wisdom’ in conflict management and achieving peace.
East Turkistan is the homeland of the majority Muslims from various Turk ethnicities such as Uyghur, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and many more. Since its occupation by the People’s Republic of China in 1949 until now in 2023, East Turkistan people have experienced various human rights violations and genocidal acts by China. East Turkistan people are deprived of their right to practice Islam and right to an adequate standard of living. In addition, they have been facing unending transgressions that encompass arbitrary detentions, forced sterilizations, forced family separations, forced assimilation into Han society, coerced labor, and concentration camps as detention centers. China rationalizes its human rights violations against East Turkistan people as ‘war against terrorism’ and has actively avoided any third-party interventions into this matter under the guise of ‘non-interventionism’ and naming the Uyghur Genocide as a ‘domestic problem’.
Since 2016, China has made ‘Sinicization of Islam’ an official state policy. This blasphemous policy is composed of re-interpretation of Islamic beliefs and practices in a way that is compatible with socialism and Confucianism, so as to make religion work for the Chinese state. It is Islamophobic to its core.
In 2018, IUMS under the leadership of Dr. Ahmad Al-Risouni and Dr. Ali Al-Qurahdaghi stated in an official statement that IUMS affirms its rejection and condemnation of evil systemic policy by China upon Muslims in East Turkistan, and warns China of the consequences of their ill-will. But these condemnations were silent in Dr. Ali Sallabi’s letter to Xi Jinping.
Muslims in East Turkistan share the same feeling as Muslims in Palestine. As hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have faced human rights violations and mass killings since 1948, hundreds of thousands of East Turkistanis have also faced human rights violations and genocidal acts in East Turkistan by occupying China since 1949. Praising China with ‘wisdom’ and ‘love of peace’ is surely an irony of the ummah.
It is known to the world that China is riding on Palestinian issues for its national interests in gaining more supporters among muslim countries. Remain untouched, China will gain more encouragement in implementing and continuing its genocidal policies against Muslims in East Turkistan.
IUETO reminds Dr. Ali Sallabi and anyone who shares his view of China, that claiming China as a just nation is utterly misguided. IUETO reminds that China's foreign policy decisions are based on its national interests, and it's not obligated to act as a global moral authority. IUETO reminds that China is the occupier of East Turkistan and ever since implementing genocide upon muslims -including women and children- in East Turkistan, and asking for help from China in this way will eventually pave a way for normalising the Uyghur Genocide. IUETO urges Dr. Ali Sallabi to revise his view of China on this issue, and act accordingly as a muslim, as an Islamic scholar, and as a representative of IUMS.
International Union of East Turkistan Organizations
