Washington DC [US], March 11 : The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) has strongly condemned what it described as racist and defamatory remarks made by Chinese media outlets against Japanese Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Arfiya Eri, calling the incident an example of discrimination and transnational intimidation targeting Uyghurs.
In a press release, WUC stated that the controversy began on February 27 when the Chinese media website Sina.com published remarks attacking Eri's ethnic background. The report allegedly referred to the Japanese official as "frontier poison" and "toxic," language that the WUC said amounted to racial abuse directed at her Uyghur heritage. The statements were later circulated on the social media platform TikTok by the Chinese Communist Party-affiliated newspaper Global Times, further amplifying the remarks and exposing Eri to widespread online hostility.
Eri, whose parents originate from East Turkistan, became a Japanese citizen after her family obtained nationality in 1999. Before entering politics, she worked as an academic and also served as an officer at the United Nations. In 2023, she was elected to Japan's parliament as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party, becoming the first person of Uyghur origin to be elected to a national parliament in the diaspora.
The WUC said Eri has consistently worked to raise awareness about alleged human rights violations against Uyghurs in East Turkistan and has advocated for greater international attention to the issue.
Responding to the remarks, the Japanese government lodged a formal diplomatic protest, or demarche, with China over what it described as an unprecedented insult directed at a democratically elected official.
WUC President Turgunjan Alawdun said the incident reflected broader discrimination faced by Uyghurs. He stated that the language used by Chinese media demonstrated the "dehumanisation" experienced by Uyghurs under Chinese rule and linked the rhetoric to what he described as China's wider policy of transnational repression.
The World Uyghur Congress expressed solidarity with Eri and welcomed Tokyo's diplomatic response. WUC also urged the Japanese government to demand a public apology from Chinese authorities and called on governments worldwide to condemn racist rhetoric in international discourse.
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