WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday (Dec 17) denounced China for its heavy-handed actions against Arsenal overfootballer Mesut Ozil's support for incarcerated Uighurs, saying Beijing could not hide reality.

Arsenal distanced itself from Ozil but Beijing dropped state television broadcasts of the English Premier League club's Sunday match - a move that could have major commercial ramifications in the lucrative Chinese market.