Rukiye Turdush
Jul 23, 2017 · 7 min read

EGYPT’S DIRTY LOVE WITH CHINA: MONEY OVER FAIT

Why Egypt?

In the wake of the Uyghur students’ crisis, Egyptian authorities conducted aggressive raids in Cairo, creating disorder, confusion and a sense of fear amongst the legal Uyghur students of the Al Azhar University. The students are struggling with a constant fear of being persecuted by Egyptian security forces. Thereby, a series of potential raids on schools, mosques and houses have been conducted on the Uyghur community by Egyptian authorities causing unrest among them.

In May 2017, the Chinese government exerted pressure on the Uyghur students studying abroad. They ordered them to return to China, otherwise their parents would be taken into custody. As a result, almost 400 Uighur students made their way back to China. Upon their arrival, they were sent to Chinese re-education camps. The torture still extended to the families of these students, and the Chinese officials and governmental bodies refused to release their detained relatives and parents. As a result, Uyghur Muslims, particularly those residing in Egypt, stopped returning to the death camp. To counter them, China again utilized its power and alliance with the Egyptian government to ask the Egyptian government to send Uyghur Muslims back to China.

Uyghurs are belongs Turkic ethnic group that live in East Turkistan through the history.

In 1949, East Turkistan was invaded by China. During that time, the total Han Chinese population was approximated to be only 4%. At this point, the Uighurs are considered to be a Chinese Muslim minority in their own homeland, where the Han Chinese population has risen to 48%. Thus, a mass Han Chinese migration has taken place in East Turkistan over the past couple of years.

So, the question that arises is “Why Egypt?” What crime has the Uyghur community committed to be victimized? What offense have they committed to deserve such mass detentions? The answer is rather simple!

China is one of the most influential superpowers with great political significance. Thereby, any other puppet state of China would do the same at the behest of China. However, not as cruelly as Egypt did — It can be said that the only crime committed by these students is their ethnic Uyghur identity and Islamic religious identity.

According to Uyghur sources, almost 4000 to 5000 Uighur Muslims are studying in Egypt. A majority of these students belong to Al Azhar University, one of the world’s most prestigious institutions.

The Egyptian authorities initiated a crackdown against the Uyghur students on July 04, 2017. Since then, Uyghurs being targeted by the Egyptian security forces.While the number of detained students has surpassed hundreds, but 12 such students were also deported to China, becoming a subject of extreme torture and brutality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzTqXF6882I

The interior ministry has gathered all arrested Uyghur students from multiple police stations and have sent them to the Tura Jail in Cairo. Chinese police officials have been invited and given access to these students to further torture and interrogate them. Messages have now surfaced from the Uighur students in Egypt claiming that those students that have been interrogated by the Chinese police in Egyptian prisons are being forced to make false confessions for crimes they haven’t committed. Egypt has been criticized for its brutal act by many human rights organizations and advocates of human welfare.

Earlier in May 2017, the Chinese government pressured Uyghurs students parents and demanded the return of all Uighur students living outside of China, including Egypt. Same month, Egypt signed $40 billion deal with China. In such situation, the shameless actions of Egyptian government do not come as a surprise. Even though, it is not necessarily to proving their loyalty to China such an immoral way, since China need Egypt for their OBOR project due to the geographical position of its Suez Canal.

Since the time Egypt’s relations have deteriorated with the United States, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the Egyptian has been bonding immediately with China. Their alliance dates back to 1956, when Egypt was the first Arab-African government to recognize the state of China. Moreover, Egypt has also been a strong supporter of the “one China policy” which the country tactfully used while signing financial deals with other countries. The policy was coined to alienate East Turkistan, Taiwan and Tibet’s independence issues.

China and Egypt share striking resemblance when it comes to the policies pertaining to local governance. As rightly stated in the Chinese proverb; “wu yi lei ju, renyi qun fen” which means ‘birds of a feather flock together.’

Furthermore, the single party authoritarian Chinese government under Xi Jin Ping, the ruler of the people’s liberations army generals, is also quite similar to the way Egyptian government is regulated by the military.

The Chinese and Egyptian governments are known for aggressively violating human rights. China is making use of dirty tactics to label the struggle of Uyghur Muslims as terrorism and are not only fabricating the facts, but also depicting themselves as the victim. Thereby, China and Egypt want to reflect that they are together in their self-proclaimed regional war on terrorism.

The Egyptian authorities are well aware of the real story, yet they remain to be extremely ignorant over the subject. As a result they equally involved in China’s atrocities against the Uighurs. Egyptian officials have not only arrested these students, but also forced them to sign confessions regarding their alliance with radical Islamic organizations.

The irony lies in the fact that Al Azhar University is a very prestigious and moderate Islamic institution. If these students had a radical Islamic approach, they wouldn’t have resorted to Al Azhar University in the first place. Moreover, if the Egyptian government considers these students to be involved in religious radicalization, then they should also question the credibility of Al Azhar University at first.

Religious or political?

Most people do not know about the double standard policies of China discriminating between the Uighur Muslims and Hui Muslims. However, in reality, the religious card played by the authorities is not that complicated. China shows its solidarity and support for the Islamic faith by fairly treating the Hui Muslims. On the other hand, China exercises its aggression by oppressing the Uyghur Muslims. This way, the Chinese are defending their aggressive policies by claiming that it has nothing to do with Islam. However, reality contradicts where all their actions are targeting the Islamic faith of Uyghurs.

It needs to be understood that the political identity of Hui Muslims and Uyghurs is different in China. East Turkistan and its Uyghur population has strategic and geopolitical significance, in terms of China’s implementation plan of Mackinder’s heartland theory. Thereby, to achieve this, the Communist forces in China have emphasized on the policy which focuses on the extermination of the Uyghurs. They want to curtail not only all their chances for revival, but completely eradicating their existence.

In consequence, no matter how respectful China pretends to be towards Islam in front of its Muslim alliance, it cannot justify its oppression in East Turkistan that exists primarily on religious grounds. Some barbaric acts include burning of the Holy Qur’an, restricting Uighur parents from teaching religion to their offspring, banning funeral prayers, and forbidding circumcision of Uighur boys.

In fact, attacking religious identity of Uyghurs led inseparable relationship between Uyghur nationalism and Islam. Even few of the extremely religious Uyghurs who have taken part in popular Islamic movements used to criticizing the Uyghur nationalism have started to change their stance.

The Hui Chinese Muslim reside in the Gansu and Ningxia provinces. Therefore, unlike East Turkestan, they have never been a nation state. A popular legend is that the Hui Muslims belonged to Middle East Islamic missionaries in China. However, many believe that Han Chinese converted to Islam. Thereby, they do not have a mother-tongue or any persisting cultural and racial differences. The only identity that discriminates a Hui Chinese is their Islamic affiliation. On the other hand, Uyghurs have own distinct language, culture, and Islamic identity. They have affiliations with the Turkic ethnic group, with a sound historic value. Uyghurs firmly believe that they are a creation of God in East Turkistan, and East Turkestan rightly belongs to them as it did before the Chinese invasion.

Money over Faith

“If any country sides with China’s atrocities, it not only compromises on undermining western liberal values of democracy and human rights but also supports barbaric acts that sabotage the true Islamic values of justice.”

If Muslim countries, including Egypt, are concerned about the welfare of Islam having utmost respect for it, they should stand against China’s atrocities and coercive violations of religious freedom in East Turkistan without lusting for money. However, the brutal actions of Egyptian authorities to show their alliance with China reflects otherwise. They have been actively arresting and deporting Uyghur students from the country which shows that the Egyptian government values money over faith.

By sidelining Uighur students and rejecting their legal status as students of Al Azhar University, Egypt has not only undermined Islam, but has also directly assisted China’s heinous crime of ethnocide and hidden genocide policy in East Turkestan. For any sane government, it is not quite difficult to deduce why China is afraid of educated Uighurs and is taking brutal measures to ensure their return. It is evident that China is afraid of Islam and western ideology. Thereby, they have been taking aggressive measures to force Uyghur students to make their return to China.

Firstly, unlike Chinese students studying abroad, Uyghur students are not loyal to the Chinese communist party and its atheist ideology. Secondly, since these students have access to different beliefs, information, and perspective, they are rebellious to traditional Communist beliefs challenging their contemporary notions. Hence, if Uighur students go abroad and return, then the educated and well-informed Uyghurs are a potential threat to the Communist ideology.

If any country sides with China’s atrocities, it not only compromises on undermining western liberal values of democracy and human rights but also supports barbaric acts that sabotage the true Islamic values of justice. However, in this world, we are helplessly allowing the Chinese forces to use their power and authority, irrespective of how evil and regressive it is.

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