Mesut Ozil of Arsenal celebrates scoring against Leicester on Monday in London, England. Photo: IC

Arsenal football star Mesut Özil has become the latest target to fall for a propaganda stunt to smear China by notorious Hong Kong secessionist Joshua Wong, as the latter, in a desperate bid to save his dying fame, attributed Ozil's axing from the English Premier League club as a "kowtow to Beijing."

Wong said on Twitter on Thursday that he was deeply disappointed by Arsenal's decision to take Özil out of the Premier League squad for the 2020/21 season, just because he has made comments on vocational education and training centers in Xinjiang. 

"…It is just unbelievable for the club to censor its players' outcry against injustice in China in such a biased way, which makes people wonder if the club is kowtowing to Beijing," said Wong.

Wong's comments were again denounced by observers as a propaganda stunt and a bid to save his dying reputation.

Özil himself on Wednesday accused the club of a lack of loyalty following his omission, but did not mention Xinjiang.

"I'm really deeply disappointed by the fact that I have not been registered for the Premier League season for the time being," said Özil.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta also said, "It was just a football decision and my conscience is very calm because I have been really fair with him (Özil)."

The Turkish-German football star faced a firestorm of criticism in China last year when he made false comments on Xinjiang's affairs. The club's games were then pulled from the state broadcaster.

Arsenal's decision to leave out Özil did not surprise Chinese fans much, as many believe the World Cup winner is just reaping the consequences of his own actions.

"Özil has made no efforts to seek progress and has become the victim of his own deeds," Zhao Yifan, an Arsenal fan from Beijing, told the Global Times.

"No club would want to use a player who does not focus on playing soccer, but instead takes part in nonsense politics on social media every day and goes against the club," Zhao said.

"The Premier League is highly commercial, and a club's reputation can be damaged by a player's words," he said.

Özil, 32, who transferred to Arsenal from Real Madrid in 2013 and won the World Cup for Germany in 2014, has not spent a minute on the pitch for Arsenal since March 7.

Global Times
Newspaper headline: Joshua Wong twists Mesut Özil’s axing from Arsenal as 'kowtow to Beijing'