Wellington (AFP)
New Zealand rugby superstar Sonny Bill Williams shared comments on Monday from German footballer Arsenal who sharply criticized Chinese policy towards the Uyghur Muslim minority while regretting that some chose money rather than money. humanity.
As criticism of China after Ozil's intervention on the crackdown on Muslim minorities continues, Williams, double winner of the Rugby World Cup with the All Blacks, converted to Islam, has brought all his weight .
"It's a sad time when we opt for economic benefits rather than humanity," said the New Zealand player on Twitter with an illustration of a hand carrying the Chinese flag gripping another hand holding the flag of East Turkestan. , a term used by many Uighur separatists to designate Xinjiang, and dripping with blood.
In a tweet posted on December 13, 2014 world champion Ozil, Germany, violently denounced the "silence" of Muslim countries on the current situation in Xinjiang, a region in northwest China, where Beijing is suspected. to have interned a million Muslims.
"Korans are burned ... destroyed mosques ... prohibited Islamic schools ... religious intellectuals killed one after the other ... Brothers sent by force to camps", was indignant Mesut Ozil in a message posted in Turkish on Twitter and Instagram.
The Turkish-born German also said that "women are forced to marry Chinese men".
China had accused Ozil of having been "deceived by false information" and encouraged him to visit Xinjiang, after his polemical comments on this region.
In retaliation, Beijing had Ozil removed from the Chinese versions of the popular game Pro Evolution Soccer (PES).
© 2019 AFP