Hundreds of Muslim Malaysians from multiple Muslim groups protested outside the Chinese embassy in Kuala Lumpur on Dec. 27 against China's treatment of its Uighur minority in Xinjiang, The New Straits Times reported.

The event consisted of two separate protests, with the progressive Malaysian Muslim Youth Movement (Abim) leading one consisting of about 40 protesters, while hardline pro-caliphate group Hizbut Tahrir Malaysia (HTM) led the other, consisting of hundreds, according to The Malay Mail.

Snubbed by the embassy

Both groups also submitted memorandums to the embassy.

However, no one from the embassy appeared before the protesters to receive the memorandums.

The president of Abim, Muhammad Faisal, stated that their memorandum was only delivered to the guardhouse.

Meanwhile, the secretary-general for Abim, Mohammad Fazril Mohd Saleh, said that they were being ignored by the embassy and added that they had been told they could come so long as they did not number more than a hundred protesters.

As per Fazril: "We’ve sent in our fax and called them last Monday. The officer we spoke to said we can come as long as we don’t bring more than 100 demonstrators with us. But today is a repeat of our past demonstration where they ignored us."

Free Malaysia Today reported that Abim had previously attempted to submit a memorandum on July 5 during an earlier protest.

However, they were to unable do so at that time as the embassy's gates remained closed.

Memorandum also sent to Mahathir

A spokesperson for HTM, Abdul Hakim Othman, said it had also delivered its memorandum to the office of Malaysia's Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, on Dec. 26, NST reported.

Hakim elaborated that HTM's memorandum called for:

• A political commitment to severing diplomatic and economic ties with China,
• Closing down the Chinese embassy in Malaysia, and
• Recalling the Malaysian ambassador to China.

Condemning the Chinese embassy for not accepting the memorandum, Hakim said: "The (Chinese embassy’s) non-acceptance of our memoranda today is an act of cowardliness. This is proof that what’s happening in Xinjiang is true."

Making a point out of calling for 'jihad' against China

He also added that should China refuse to heed the severing of diplomatic and economic ties, Malaysia must prepare to declare "jihad" (holy struggle) on China to rescue the oppressed Muslims.

As per Hakim:"If China refuses to heed the earlier warning, then Malaysia must issue a final military warning to them, and prepare to declare 'jihad' upon them and rescue the oppressed."

Even so, Hakim was quoted by The Malay Mail as acknowledging that the Malaysian government was unlikely to jeopardise its ties with China.

He said: "Ultimately, what matters is that we at Hizbut Tahrir did something to highlight the plight and suffering of our Muslim brothers and sisters over there."

Chinese embassy: Xinjiang is beautiful, especially for Malaysian Muslims

Earlier on Dec. 24, the Chinese embassy issued a statement that slammed the news of Muslim minorities being placed into concentration camps in China as groundless and irresponsible, NST reported.

The statement said:

"During the past week, the social media in Malaysia was flooded with fake and inflammatory news related to Xinjiang. This reminds me of a Chinese saying that 'three liars make a tiger', which means if a lie is repeated a thousand times, some people might actually buy it. It is a sad fact, yet it just keeps happening."

It also stated that Malaysians were more than welcome to see the region "with your own eyes" and added:

"Xinjiang is beautiful as it is peaceful, which makes it an ideal travel destination for Malaysians, especially our Muslim friends."

Top image from Hizbut Tahrir Malaysia Facebook