Pakistan consulate in China tweets on 'freedom' of Uyghur community, Islamabad clarifies

Pakistan has backtracked on a tweet from the official handle of Pakistan Consulate General Chengdu, which stated that the country would "work closely on matters of mutual interest including the Rights and Freedom of the Uyghurs community."

The tweet, which also thanked China for support to flood victims, was seen as the first instance of Pakistan coming out in support of the Uyghur community, a predominantly Turkic-speaking ethnic group primarily in China's northwestern region of Xinjiang which has faced "serious human rights violations" from Beijing.

China is responsible for "serious human rights violations" in Xinjiang province and that mass detentions in China's Xinjiang region from 2017 to 2019 were marked by credible documentation of "torture, sexual violence, and forced labour, as well as forced abortions and sterilization.”

However, hours after the tweet, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson stated that the Twitter account of the Pakistan Consulate General Chengdu, China "has been hacked."

The spokesperson went on to say that "any tweet or message issued from this account is not made by the Pakistan Consulate General Chengdu nor does it reflect the position of the Government of Pakistan."