Day: November 16, 2021

Thousands of protesters demonstrated outside the Chinese Embassy in London and Chinese consulate in Manchester on Saturday as part of a weekend of protests worldwide, demanding that the Chinese Communist Party stop its genocidal policies against Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang and shut down a network of “re-education” camps that have held up to 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities. The Stand4Uyghurs campaign was organized by a coalition of over 50 British Muslim organizations in an effort to rally a largely reticent Muslim world to speak up for the persecuted Uyghurs. Salman Butt, chief editor of Islam21c, a digital Islamic news platform, was campaign coordinator of the event in the UK. He spoke with reporter Nuriman Abdurashid from RFA’s Uyghur Service about the demonstrations and the messages that the coalition wants to send to Muslims in East Turkestan, the Uyghurs’ preferred name for Xinjiang, and to the Chinese government. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

RFA: What is the Stand4Uyghurs campaign?

Butt: The Stand4Uyghurs campaign is part of our impact element, and it’s a broad coalition of 50-plus British Muslim organizations. We want to expand as far and wide as possible, and its aim is to channel people towards effective action for the Uyghur cause of East Turkestan.

RFA: How did you decide to hold the [London and Manchester] events, and what triggered the large turnout?

Butt: The protests yesterday happened simultaneously in London and Manchester. In Manchester, there were approximately 350-plus people, and in London there were thousands — some estimates range from 2,000 to 3,000-plus. The people were there primarily in order to simply stand with our Uyghur brothers and sisters to show that we are all part of one body, that any attack on the Uyghurs is an attack on us, and if they are prevented from speaking, then we will speak for them and give them a voice.

RFA: Could you elaborate more on the slogan “Tell the Uyghurs who we are, la ilaha illal lah” [there is no God worthy of worship except Allah]?

Butt: So firstly, we know that this statement “Tell the Uyghurs who we are, la ilaha illal lah” is one of the core causes why the Chinese Communist Party wishes to persecute the Uyghurs because it renders the Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities slaves of Allah first and foremost, rather than being slaves to the state party, and that is a threat to them. And they want to assimilate them. One of the things that the Chinese Communist Party is doing is trying to remove the Muslims, trying to remove the Islam and the iman [faith] from the Uyghurs and the other Muslims minorities in East Turkestan. Part of their call is that you’re not Muslim, you’re Chinese. This kind of assimilation is an aggressive assimilationist attempt. We wanted to reaffirm that these brothers and sisters are indeed part of our broader collective. This is who we are. This is why we are standing for them and standing with them. And this is why the statement is one that they need to hold fast to as well. So, it’s showing again our united Kalima [statement of faith] cause and a united word with the Uyghur brothers and sisters across the world.

RFA: What message do you have for the Uyghur diaspora?

Butt: My message for the Uyghurs in the diaspora is wherever you are, whatever’s going on, we want you to know that we are with you and, inshallah [God willing], ummah [the Muslim world/community of believers] has not forsaken you. The Muslim ummah is there, is present, and our leaders or our people who have been in charge of our institutions and our governments and so forth may have agendas, but the vast majority of the masses of Muslims the body of the ummah is with you, inshallah, and we want to give that moral support.

RFA: What’s your message for the Chinese government?

Butt: Our message to the Chinese government is clear. This behavior has to stop immediately. These are demands. We read our demands on the day as well. We were not asking for something unreasonable. It’s basic things that any civilized human being would expect to stop the persecution and open up the mosques, close down the concentration camps, and let the Uyghurs practice their deen, their faith, with dignity.

RFA: Do you know why the Chinese flag was removed from the Chinese Embassy in London on the day of the protest?

Butt: I don’t know why the Chinese flag was removed. We noticed that when we were setting up that it wasn’t there. My own suspicion is because maybe they were afraid or ashamed because of the demonstration that was about to happen, because their people were notified much earlier when this demonstration was going to happen.

RFA: How did the UK government react to the protests?

Butt: We have not had any reaction from the UK government thus far that I’m aware of.
Our campaign is a longer term one, and God willing, inshallah, to form an Islamic and Muslim-led platform welcome to anyone who wants to stand with us on this. But it’s there to fill a void because most of the loudest voices against China and there is a crucial absence of an Islamic grassroots voice which is genuinely critical of all types of oppression. This is what we want. We’re calling people to stand on this platform with the Uyghur brothers and sisters. Our aim is to motivate people, to inform people about who the Uyghurs are and what is happening to them, and then to channel them into effective action.

Edited by Roseanne Gerin.

High-level envoys from the three Asian nations with the most influence in Myanmar have visited the strife-torn country in recent days, raising hopes of new international efforts to pressure the junta to honor pledges it made in April on resolving the political crisis sparked by a military coup.

Since Nov. 12, Japanese Peace Ambassador to Myanmar Dr. Yohei Sasakawa, Chinese Special Envoy of Asian Affairs Sun Guoxiang and Thai Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Don Pramuwinai have all led separate delegations to the capital Naypyidaw.

Sasakawa, chairman of the Nippon Foundation and Special Envoy of the Japanese Government for National Reconciliation in Myanmar, met with junta chief Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing on Saturday. The Japanese philanthropist left the capital early on Monday for Sittwe, the capital of western Myanmar’s Rakhine state, to meet with state officials and visit refugee camps for those displaced by conflict.

Thai Deputy Foreign Minister Don Pramuwinai flew into Naypyidaw on Sunday and met with Min Aung Hlaing and junta foreign minister Wunna Maung Lwin before returning home later that day.

Diplomatic sources told The Irrawaddy online newspaper that “sensitive topics were discussed,” possibly including anti-junta activists based in Thailand along the two countries’ shared border. Don Pramuwinai had met with Wunna Maung Lwin in Bangkok after the February coup, but his visit to Myanmar over the weekend marked the first by a top Thai official since the takeover.

Chinese Special Envoy for Asian Affairs Sun Guoxiang is currently in Naypyidaw, although it was not immediately clear whether he had already met with the junta chief.

The Irrawaddy reported that Sun had planned to meet Min Aung Hlaing during his unannounced visit — his second to the Southeast Asian nation since the military seized power in a Feb. 1 coup.

Although Sun’s agenda has not been made public, observers believe that he may urge Min Aung Hlaing to implement the five-point consensus he agreed to when he and other Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders met in Jakarta on April 24.

The agreement calls for an end to violence, dialogue between the junta and the deposed National League for Democracy (NLD), and for the ASEAN special envoy and delegation to visit Myanmar to meet with all parties concerned.

Junta spokesman, Deputy Information Minister Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, told RFA’s Myanmar Service on Monday that the Japanese, Chinese and Thai deputy prime ministers’ visits were aimed at boosting bilateral relations and trade with Myanmar, as well as for the promotion of peace and to help contain the COVID-19 outbreak in Myanmar.

Zaw Min Tun said the regime is working to implement the five-point plan “to achieve lasting peace” and has no intention of blocking an ASEAN special envoy from visiting Myanmar.

“We will welcome them so long as the visit is in accordance with previous agreements and the [ASEAN] principle of non-interference in internal affairs,” he said.

Nine months after the Feb. 1 coup, the junta’s security forces have killed 1,265 civilians and arrested at least 7,291, according to the Bangkok-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Many of the deaths and arrests have occurred during crackdowns on anti-junta protests.

The junta claims it unseated the NLD government because the party had engineered its victory in the 2020 election through widespread voter fraud, though international observers rated the vote legitimate. Military leaders have yet to present evidence backing up their allegation, and protests against the regime continue.

Hope for reconciliation

Observers expressed hope on Monday that the three diplomats would help to bring about some sort of reconciliation in Myanmar as the result of their visits.

Pe Than, a former member of the Rakhine State People’s Assembly, told RFA that he hoped Sasakawa would be able to mediate peace not only in Rakhine state but also throughout the country.

“As chairman of the Nippon Foundation, he might be able to mediate between the two sides,” he said of the envoy, who visited Myanmar in 2020 and mediated a ceasefire between the military and the ethnic Rakhine Arakan Army.

Ye Tun, a former parliamentary member and political analyst, said that while top diplomats from Japan, China and Thailand were visiting Myanmar at the same time with their own agendas, their common goal might be to bring about a dialogue between jailed NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Min Aung Hlaing.

“The problem we have now is that Aung San Suu Kyi is the only person to negotiate with,” he said.

“If they want to talk to Aung San Suu Kyi, the junta must first drop the charges against her. At a time when both sides are having a dilemma, she would be the one to discuss with to achieve an acceptable solution to both sides.”

Aung San Suu Kyi, NLD President Win Myint and other top party leaders were detained by the military shortly after the February coup and face a litany of charges critics say are politically motivated.

Ye Tun said that the military would likely not allow international diplomats to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi for the time being and does not appear to be willing to negotiate with her. Zaw Min Tun had earlier told RFA that it was not yet possible for any diplomat to visit with the NLD leader while she faces various charges.

After Sun Guoxiang’s first visit to Myanmar at the end of August, he said he was refused permission to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi and was “surprised” by the junta’s tough stance on her, according to international media reports.

Reported by RFA’s Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.