China appears to be increasingly confident about promoting its position on Xinjiang in countries that have large Muslim populations, like Nigeria. The Chinese embassy in Abuja on Tuesday posted criticism of U.S. and European accusations that Beijing is persecuting its Uyghur minority population.
The Chinese statements do not align with well-documented evidence that confirms the large-scale internment of more than a million Uyghurs. Nonetheless, the issue does not appear to generate a strong response in Nigeria, home to the world’s fifth-largest Muslim population, or any other predominantly Islamic state.