{"id":1178996,"date":"2023-08-13T15:36:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-13T15:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rfa.org\/english\/news\/uyghur\/propaganda-pakistan-08112023153046.html"},"modified":"2023-08-13T15:36:00","modified_gmt":"2023-08-13T15:36:00","slug":"china-pumps-up-narrative-of-happy-uyghurs-in-xinjiang-among-pakistanis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2023\/08\/13\/china-pumps-up-narrative-of-happy-uyghurs-in-xinjiang-among-pakistanis\/","title":{"rendered":"China pumps up narrative of happy Uyghurs in Xinjiang among Pakistanis"},"content":{"rendered":"
\u201cChinese Rahat Abdullah\u201d has become a regular on Pakistani social media channels, YouTube and Facebook, wearing Atlas silk dresses, Pakistani clothing, or traditional Chinese outfits.<\/span><\/p>\n Regarded as a Chinese internet star, she also sings in Urdu on local radio and cooks Uyghur dishes on Pakistani TV programs \u2013 though she refers to the dishes as Chinese food.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Her sudden rise in popularity has raised questions among Uyghurs living in Pakistan about Beijing\u2019s efforts to use local Uyghurs as pro-Chinese Communist Party propaganda tools to downplay the Chinese government\u2019s horrific treatment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. China has come under harsh international criticism for its severe rights abuses against the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs, including forced labor. The U.S. government and several Western parliaments have declared that the abuses amount to genocide or crimes against humanity.<\/span><\/p>\n Abdullah is believed to hail from the city of Ghulja \u2013 or Yining in Chinese \u2013 in Xinjiang. Information on Pakistani social media platforms says she earned a law degree in China and arrived in Pakistan in 2010.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n She has been known to teach Chinese at various universities in Pakistan and is portrayed in the videos as a messenger of friendship between China and the predominantly Muslim Pakistan.<\/span><\/p>\n But Abdullah doesn\u2019t mix with local Uyghurs, according to Omar Uyghur, the founder of a trust that provides assistance to Uyghur<\/span> refugees in Pakistan.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cShe doesn\u2019t come to the weddings or funerals,\u201d he said. \u201cUyghurs don\u2019t meet with her either. She spreads propaganda in the Pakistani media on how Uyghurs are living happily.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n At a time when Uyghurs in Pakistan cannot freely return to Xinjiang and some Uyghur women married to Pakistanis are being detained by Chinese authorities in the region, Abdullah was able to visit Ghulja last June.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n During her visit, she participated in a wedding and recorded Uyghur songs and dances there, later posting them on Facebook and other social media platforms to give her Pakistani followers the impression that Uyghurs live happy lives.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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