Many Muslim governments have been turning a blind eye to China’s persecution of Uyghurs and other Muslims. But it seems that al Qaeda—the Islamist terrorist gang responsible for the attacks on New York City, Washington DC, and Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001—is not okay with it.
A couple of years ago, Shiv Nadar reported that 34 Arab League members had been given the grand CCP-managed tour of Urumqi, capital city of the Xinjiang region. According to official Chinese government sources, these tourists assented to the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda about how they had witnessed the “happy life” of residents. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed that the delegation “expressed admiration for the role of the government and denounced the allegations of ‘ethnic genocide’ and ‘religious persecution’ as entirely baseless.”
We have more than the word of CCP hacks to go by. The lack of any repudiation of the Party propaganda by the tourists or their Arab governments speaks volumes. Moreover, before that 2023 visit and an earlier visit in the same year by clerics of the World Muslim Communities Council (“who also praised Beijing’s policies in Xinjiang after their visit”), the implicated Arab country governments “had supported Beijing in the UN Human Rights Council, and their leaders had defended China during their official visits to the country.”
A December 2023 Diplomat article notes that “the Muslim world is quick to denounce Islamophobia in the West but has been markedly silent on China’s attacks on Islam and Uyghur culture.”
The “Islamophobia” worthy of such official denunciation is manifested by actions like Koran-burning. But not actions like systematic imprisonment, brainwashing, and torture of Uyghurs just going about their business; or subjecting them to forced labor; or murderously extracting their organs.
The government of Turkey once denounced Uyghur genocide, and the country was once a refuge for Uyghurs escaping from China. No longer:
The ominous reports of Chinese police spying on the Uyghur diaspora in Türkiye continue to underscore the underlying tensions. A report released by the human rights organisation Safeguard Defenders in August 2023 states that Türkiye is no longer a safe haven for Uyghurs….
Türkiye’s seeming ambivalence isn’t an outlier in the Muslim world. Countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran, despite their fervent stances on Muslim issues elsewhere, have been noticeably quiet about the Uyghurs.
AQAP objects though
Here’s a headline: “Leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) Issues Incendiary Calls for Global Attacks on Jews, Americans; Threatens China Over Uyghurs Amid Holiday Season”
The article reports on two posters recently issued by AQAP. The first poster targets Jews and Americans.
The second poster warns China that “we’re watching” the treatment of Uyghurs over there. Its text accuses China’s “pagan, infidel regime” of abusing Uyghurs, declares that AQAP is “monitoring every move” that the Chinese government makes against the Uyghurs, and warns that if all this keeps happening AQAP “will go beyond targeting interests on land and sea” (MEMRI, December 23, 2025).
Also see:
Asian News International: Over 500,000 sign petition urging G7 action against China’s forced organ harvesting (December 17, 2025)
“The petition, initiated by Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting and the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China in July 2024, has collected 505,970 signatures across 34 countries as of December 15.”
Daily Caller: “ ‘Murder Masquerading As Medicine’: Senate Ignores Bill On CCP’s Christian Organ Harvesting” (December 23, 2025)
“I heard some come from those who practice Falun Gong, those who are very healthy,” Matas and Kilgour said.
“Yes, we have. I can’t talk clearly to you over the phone,” the doctor said, before inviting whom he believed was a potential buyer to visit in person.
The Telegraph: “China ‘to triple number of Uyghur organ-harvesting centres’ ” (July 3, 2025)
StoptheCCP.org: “Forced Labor and How to Fight It”
