Hawzah News Agency - (Wellington  - New Zealand ) - A New Zealand rugby star has become the latest high-profile sportsperson to criticise publicly China's treatment of the Uighur Muslim minority, as well as those who “choose economic benefits over humanity”.

Sonny Bill Williams, one of the world's best-known players, tweeted an image of a hand with the Chinese flag gripping onto a bloody arm representing East Turkmenistan, the former name of China’s Xinjiang province.

Williams, who is a practising Muslim, wrote above the picture: “It’s a sad time when we choose economic benefits over humanity.”

The Rugby World Cup winner’s remarks follow the controversy over Mesut Ozil, the Arsenal midfielder, speaking out in support of China’s Uighurs.

His Premier League club distanced itself on Chinese social media from his comments and a fellow Muslim footballer said Ozil was “wrong” to get involved with politics.

Ozil had called Uighurs “warriors who resist persecution” and highlighted China’s crackdown on their culture and freedoms.

“(In China) Qurans are burned, mosques were closed down, Islamic theological schools, madrasas were banned, religious scholars were killed one by one,” he wrote. “Despite all this, Muslims stay quiet.”