Saudi Arabia Redefines Role as World’s Defender of Muslims
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is promoting more secular national interests at a critical juncture for the kingdom.
Muslim pilgrims wear masks at the Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca.
Photographer: Abdel Ghani Bashir/AFP/Getty Images
When Chinese diplomat Tan Banglin defended his country’s treatment of Muslims amid an international outcry, his comments were less remarkable than where he made them.
In a column last July for one of the most widely read newspapers in Saudi Arabia—the traditional protector of Muslims worldwide—Tan talked about how the Communist Party had united with people in Xinjiang province, leading to “great” changes. That’s as nations including the U.S. were accusing China of putting Uighurs into detention camps.