La Liga
Mesut Ozil: Arsenal midfielder ‘deceived by fake news’, says China
Arsenal star Mesut Ozil was duped by fake news and made him criticize China for treating Uighur minority Muslims in the country, according to China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shaung.
Ozil, who is a Muslim, called the Uighur minority fighters rescuing persecutors in a post on social media and criticized China for how it is treating them and Muslims who are silent on the issue.
But Geng Shaung says the German midfielder of Turkish descent was influenced by untrue news and invited him to visit the Xinjaing Autonomous Region and see with his own eyes the situation in the country.
Human rights groups say about one million people – most of them from the Uighur Muslim community – have been arrested and jailed without trial in high-security prisons.
China has repeatedly denied that it is mistreating Uighur Muslims and says they are being trained in training centers to combat violent religious extremism.
Following Ozil’s comments, Chinese state-run CCTV television did not air the Premier League match between Arsenal and Manchester City at all.