NetEase has removed an Arsenal player from the football simulator. He stood up for the Muslims persecuted by China
Chinese politics is back in play. NetEase cut an Arsenal football player from a sports title — he criticized the country for creating concentration camps for Uighurs, the national Muslim minority.
According to PCGamesInsider, football player Mesut Ozil (Mesut Özi) was introduced in the Chinese version Pro Evolution Soccer 2020. He attracted the attention of the publisher (but first of all — the authorities of the Celestial Empire) with loud statements in social networks.
Ozil publicly condemned the detention of Uighur Muslims in “educational camps”. This is a Turkic nation professing Sunni Islam. According to Meduza.io , more than 10 million Uighurs live in the Chinese region of Xinjiang (at least 1 million — according to the UN). The region is already being called a “police state within a state.” Total control in Xinjiang includes video tracking, smartphone verification, DNA material donation and much more.
In addition, the footballer accused China of burning holy Muslim books and demolishing mosques. He called the Uighurs “warriors resisting persecution.”
NetEase has already stated that Ozil’s criticism “hurt the feelings of Chinese players.” “We do not understand, do not accept and do not forgive this (relationship),” Abacus quotes the publisher. At the same time, the Japanese developer of PES 2020, Konami, remains silent.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry also reacted to the situation. Officials said Ozil “was misled by fake news” about the Uighurs. And they noted that the people living in Xinjiang “are being re-educated.”
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Not so long ago, another scandal related to games and Chinese politics affected Blizzard. Then the company reinsured itself and banned the streamer, who called for “liberating Hong Kong.” But later she said that “China has nothing to do with it.”
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