XINJIANG: CHINA REPORTEDLY DEFEATED OIC STATEMENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L BEIJING 002185 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/31/2034 TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM CH EG TU SUBJECT: XINJIANG: CHINA REPORTEDLY DEFEATED OIC STATEMENT ON UIGHURS, SEEKING OBSERVERSHIP REF: A. JEDDAH 257 ¶B. BEIJING 2041 Classified By: Political Section Chief Aubrey Carlson. Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Egyptian Embassy Officer Haitham Safey (protect) told PolOff July 30 that PRC efforts to quash a proposed statement by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) condemning the Chinese government's response to the July 5 unrest in Xinjiang and its treatment of Muslim Uighurs (reftels) had succeeded. He said that the effort, led at China's behest by Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, had led to the cancellation of debate on the subject scheduled for July 21, and the concept of a declaration on Xinjiang was now dead. He added that China had lobbied Turkey on the issue as well, dispatching an MFA Department Director General fluent in Turkish to Ankara to seek to reduce Sino-Turkish tensions and head off the proposed statement. ¶2. (C) Safey reported that, in the negotiations over the proposed statement, China had agreed to invite OIC Secretary-General Ihsanoglu to visit Xinjiang and assess the situation of Uighurs there on behalf of the OIC, a concession that China had initially opposed. He said that China had since attempted to delay the scheduling of Ihsanoglu's travel, using the upcoming Ramadan period as a reason to delay the visit at least through the end of September. He suggested that China would attempt to further delay the visit after the conclusion of Ramadan. ¶3. (C) Safey added that international fallout from the Xinjiang violence had prompted China to seek observer status in the OIC, but he speculated that prospects for this effort were dim due to the high bar for granting observership as well as concerns among member countries that the PRC might seek to use the organization as a forum for justifying the abuse of Muslim minorities. GOLDBERG