Kuzzat Altay, a well-known Uyghur American entrepreneur, tech founder, and human rights activist, has published a video message discussing the current persecution of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang and the intricate dynamics between China and Muslim countries.
In the video, Altay asserted that despite China’s ongoing genocide against Uyghur Muslims, most Muslim-majority countries maintain strong trade and investment ties with Beijing. “Nearly every Muslim nation has profound trade relations with China,” he explained, pointing out that it is unrealistic to ask these nations to simply cut off business relations with China.
Altay described how China uses enormous financial inputs and influence to shut up Uyghurs in Muslim states. “China spends hundreds of billions of dollars with Muslim nations, in investments, bribery, and so on, to purchase influence. They can pressure governments into silencing the Uyghur question and manipulate the media to not speak of it”, he said.
He cautioned that, as a result of this censorship of information, most of the Muslim world is not aware of the occupation of East Turkistan and the genocide being perpetrated there, allowing China’s economic outreach with little resistance.
To combat this, Altay advocated a strategy built around awareness, saying, “The less Muslim populations know about the Uyghur issue, the easier it is for China to do business. But if more people know, public opinion will shift. Governments will be pressured by their citizens, raising the cost and barriers for China to operate in these countries.”
He called on Muslim communities worldwide to actively discuss and raise awareness about the Uyghur plight on social media, in schools, mosques, and communities to create leverage against China’s economic dominance. “If people talk about the Uyghur issue every day, governments will be forced to reconsider their ties with China, demanding better terms and accountability”, he said.
Altay ended by calling upon the people to spread the word far and wide and be devoted to holding Uyghur voices. He said that this approach will rescue hundreds of thousands of our Muslim brethren in East Turkistan.