A group of many oil-rich Arab kingdoms, according to Beijing, has rejected the Chinese government’s controversial treatment of Uyghur Muslims as“an internal matter.” The Gulf Cooperation Council’s secretary-general, Nayef Falah Al-Hajraf, expressed strong support for China’s “legitimate positions on issues related to Taiwan, Xinjiang and human rights,” during meetings with Chinese Communist Party officials this week in China, according to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin.
Al-Hajraf did not speak directly to reporters, but a representative for China’s Foreign Ministry said he agreed that human rights concerns should not be politicized and “expressed opposition to interference in China’s internal affairs.” Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates make up the GCC, which is headquartered in Riyadh. In a recent report, Human Rights Watch stated, “The Chinese government has committed — and continues to commit — crimes against humanity against the Turkic Muslim population”. “In Xinjiang, Turkic Muslims continue to be arbitrarily detained on the basis of their identity, while others are subjected to forced labor, mass surveillance and political indoctrination,” says the report.
