MONTRÉAL, Québec (CU)_Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is warning China of potential repercussions from the international community regarding Beijing’s treatment of the Uyghur ethnic minority in Xinjiang.
According to a United Nations human-rights panel, as many as one million Uyghurs are being detained in what Beijing describes as vocational training centres, where they are being subjected to repressive surveillance, torture, mistreatment and forced labour, as well as forced sterilisation of women, forced abortions and mandatory birth control, in order to slash this ethnic minority’s birth rate.
“There are significant concerns being expressed all around the world, and the Parliament of Canada was very clear about its concerns just a few weeks ago,” PM Trudeau said. “We have committed to work with our allies internationally on both getting clear answers and holding to account those responsible, with possible consequences that the world can bring forward.”
The Prime Minister and his cabinet abstained in the Parliament’s recent vote declaring that genocide was being committed against Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region. He is of the view that sanctions against Beijing would be “much better done on a multilateral basis”.
Meanwhile, the Communist Party has denied any wrongdoing, with the Chinese Ambassador to Canada, Cong Peiwu, saying allegation of forced labour and genocide in Xinjiang are “the lie of the century”.
During a virtual news conference held with selected Canadian news outlets on Wednesday (March 3), regarding the House of Commons vote, Cong brushed aside an internal Chinese report obtained by several news outlets which said Beijing is relocating large numbers of Uyghurs to other parts of the country to better integrate them and reduce their population in Xinjiang.
The ambassador said the report was “lies being spread by people with anti-China intentions”.
Moreover, Cong refused to comment on the cabinet’s abstention in the genocide declaration, which was carried by a vote of 266 to 0. Instead, he dismissed the declaration itself, saying the MPs who voted have never been to Xinjiang or even to China in the recent past, and are therefore in no position to judge the situation on the ground.
The ambassador also said there is no connection between the imprisonment of the two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, in China, and the arrest of the Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver. However, PM Trudeau insists that the link between the incidents is “obvious”, as the two Michaels were arrested just days after Ottawa fulfilled its extradition obligations in relation to Meng.
“Nothing the ambassador can say now will dissuade me from understanding that is the case,” the Canadian Prime Minister said.
