Canadian Lawmakers Approve Motion Labeling Xinjiang Abuses Genocide

[misskit]

Canada’s House of Commons on Monday passed a motion designating rights abuses in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) as genocide, making it the second nation to do so following the U.S. last month.


Parliament unanimously adopted the non-binding motion—266 in favor and zero against—brought forward by the country’s opposition Conservative Party, although 37 lawmakers in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet from the ruling Liberal Party abstained from the vote.


While several Liberal MPs did vote in favor, Trudeau last week said that the label of genocide is something the international community must “ensure that when it is used, it is clearly and properly justified” and called for a United Nations investigation of the situation.


Trudeau’s Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau made a show of abstaining Monday “on the behalf of the government of Canada.”


Lawmakers, including from the Liberal Party, also voted 229-29 to adopt an amendment that Canada urge the International Olympic Committee to move the 2022 Olympic Games from Beijing if it continues to violate the rights of Uyghurs in the XUAR, although they did not call for a boycott. Authorities in the region are believed to have held up to 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in a vast network of internment camps since early 2017.


Chinese officials have said the camps are centers for “vocational training,” but reporting by RFA’s Uyghur Service and other media outlets shows that detainees are mostly held against their will in cramped and unsanitary conditions, where they are forced to endure inhumane treatment and political indoctrination.


Dolkun Isa, president of the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress (WUC) exile group, told RFA’s Uyghur Service that the unanimous support of Monday’s motion “is of historical significance.”


“This giant step taken by the Canadian Parliament should encourage parliaments in other democratic countries and the U.N. to formally recognize the Uyghur genocide,” he said.


In a press release by the WUC, Isa called the decision by Trudeau and his cabinet to abstain “disappointing” and urged the Canadian government to “lead the way with like-minded countries in a coordinated effort.”


The passage was also welcomed by the Washington-based Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP), whose executive director Omer Kanat said that China’s “atrocity crimes demand a worldwide response.”


“We are now in the fifth year of unimaginable hell,” he added.


Kanat called on Canada’s government to develop a plan of action to follow-up on the vote, encourage allies to make similar designations, and work through the U.N. Human Rights Council to establish an independent mechanism to evaluate the Uyghur situation.


On Feb. 11 lawmakers in Belgium’s Chamber of Representatives submitted a resolution on the XUAR similar to Canada’s.


Washington’s Campaign For Uyghurs (CFU) also commended the vote, urging Trudeau’s government to endorse the designation and enact tougher restrictions on consumer goods and materials imported from the XUAR “to prevent the flow of goods made with Uyghur forced labor.”


Earlier actions


While Monday’s motion is non-binding, it marks the first time a legislative body has labeled the situation in the XUAR genocide, and members of the Conservative Party have called on Trudeau’s government to officially endorse the designation. In October, a House of Commons subcommittee on human rights also voted to designate China’s policies in the XUAR as genocide.


In one of his last acts in office, former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last month said he had determined China is “committing genocide and crimes against humanity” in the XUAR against Uyghurs and other ethnic groups, and that Beijing and the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) “must be held to account.”


The new U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has backed the label, suggesting that President Joe Biden’s administration will pursue a more forceful approach in holding China accountable for its abuses in the region.


Emily Horne, the spokesperson for Biden’s National Security Council, recently told the Washington Examiner that “President Biden has called the oppression of the Uyghurs a genocide, and he stands against it in the strongest possible terms.”


Monday’s vote in Ottawa came after a scolding from China’s ambassador to Canada Cong Peiwu over the weekend, who denied reports of the camps, as well as of connected forced labor schemes, forced sterilization, and systemic rape and sexual assault.


“We urge the Canadian side to take seriously China’s solemn position, respect the facts, discard prejudice, and correct mistakes … stop interfering in China’s internal affairs by any means, so as not to cause further damages to China-Canada relations,” Cong told The Canadian Press.


Observers suggest that Trudeau’s government is playing it safe while China continues to hold Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor in detention. The pair were taken into custody in December 2018 following Canada’s arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of the technology firm’s founder.


Canadian police detained Meng in Vancouver on a U.S. extradition request for charges of fraud. Her extradition case is pending in Canada.


Making genocide ‘our business’


Ahead of the vote on Monday, Canadian shadow foreign minister and Conservative Party MP for the House of Commons Michael Chong told RFA’s Uyghur Service that his party had introduced the motion “because the evidence is now clear” that China is committing genocide, based on media reports, accounts by former detainees, and satellite imagery.


He noted that the debate over the proposal in the House was “quite intense,” but said he expected it to pass because “Canada has long had a strong tradition of standing up for human rights and the dignity of all peoples,” including during the apartheid era in South Africa.


“We're not pretending that the official recognition by the government of Canada of the genocide will lead to its immediate cessation tomorrow,” he said.


“That said, we believe it's a call to action for the world community to rally around so that action can be taken to put an end to this genocide.”


He urged Trudeau to “no longer turn a blind eye” to the abuses in the XUAR and dismissed Ambassador Cong’s warnings against proceeding with the motion, saying that China gave up its claims to sovereignty after entering international treaties—such as the 1948 Genocide Convention—and joining multilateral organizations like the United Nations.


At the same time, he said, the same things obligate Canada to “make this genocide our business.”


“Every step along the way, when new evidence has come to light, China has denied this evidence and their denials are not believable,” he said.


“The current Canadian government often said that it wants to work multilaterally and here's an opportunity to work multilaterally. The United States has already recognized the Uyghur genocide. We should join with our ally in recognizing this genocide and then work to convince other allies to recognize this genocide.”


Call for access


Monday’s vote came as the U.K. called for the U.N. to be given “urgent and unfettered” access to the XUAR to investigate reports of abuses in the region, on the same day it returned to the U.N. Human Rights Council as a voting member.


British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab slammed China in an address to the council in Geneva, noting that there are now daily reports on China’s “systematic human rights violations” in the XUAR.


“The situation in Xinjiang is beyond the pale. The reported abuses—which include torture, forced labor and forced sterilization of women—are extreme and they are extensive," he said.


Earlier on Monday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi delivered a speech at the Lanting Forum in Beijing dismissing “slanderous attacks” against Beijing for its policies in the region, which he said was an example of “human rights progress” in China. Wang said the government has implemented counter-terrorism measures that had led to “social stability and sound development” in the XUAR.


China in 2019 organized two visits to monitor internment camps in the XUAR—one for a small group of foreign journalists, and another for diplomats from non-Western countries, including Russia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, and Thailand—during which officials dismissed claims about mistreatment and poor conditions in the facilities as “slanderous lies.”


During the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September last year, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan told the gathering that these trips and the China-friendly accounts they produced were “Potemkin tours in a failed attempt to prove” that the camps were humane training centers.


In July 2019, after China’s ambassador to the U.N. invited its human rights czar Michelle Bachelet to visit the XUAR to “see for herself” what he called “education training centers” in the region, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) told RFA that she would not accept unless given access to the camps on her own terms.

Canadian Lawmakers Approve Motion Labeling Xinjiang Abuses ‘Genocide’ — Radio Free Asia

[OhOh]

Party chief rejects Xinjiang genocide claims, foreign delegates condemn West’s interference in region

By Liu Xin and Fan Lingzhi in Urumqi Published: Feb 23, 2021 12:03 AM

"The Party chief of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region defended China's policy and debunked accusations of "forced labor" and "genocide" in the region at a virtual event on Monday, while representatives from foreign political parties at the event condemned some Western countries for using human rights as a cover to interfere in other countries' domestic affairs.

Data, stories and facts they shared at the event were a strong rebuttal to some Western countries' blatant smears of China on Xinjiang-related affairs, especially at the ongoing session of the UN Human Rights Council during which Britain's foreign secretary attacked China on so-called “human rights issues” in Xinjiang, analysts said.

The Monday event, themed "A Better Life for All," focused on how the Communist Party of China (CPC) regional committee of Xinjiang implements various policies to allow local residents to enjoy better lives.

More than 300 foreign guests from 200 political parties, international organizations, media outlets and think tanks from 80 countries and regions attended the event. Representatives of Xinjiang residents also shared their stories with foreign guests.

Chen Quanguo, secretary of the CPC Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regional Committee, shared six stories to show Xinjiang's economic development, improvements in local residents' livelihood, ethnic unity, protection of religions and the battle against COVID-19 in the region.

Chen said that a 91-year-old Uygur resident in Qiemo county in the Bayingolin Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture is enjoying life with seven sons and daughters, and more than 40 grandchildren.

Chen also said that from 2010-2018, the Uygur population in Xinjiang grew by 2.5 million, or 25.04 percent, which is higher than Xinjiang's overall population growth rate (13.99 percent), ethnic minority population growth rate (22.14 percent) and Han population growth rate (2 percent).

Chen's story as well as the data he gave refuted claims that "Xinjiang is committing genocide against ethnic groups."

What Xinjiang has done is just and transparent and aims to improve the lives of its residents. The claims of "forced labor," "genocide," or "camps" are total slander and calling white black, said Chen.

Song Tao, head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee (IDCPC), said at the event that under the guidance of the CPC, China's Xinjiang has made great achievements in recent years and got rid of poverty at the end of 2020.

"But some countries and a small group of people don't want to see the good situation in Xinjiang… under the guise of human rights, they are attacking China's policies in Xinjiang and trying to sow discord between China and Islamic states," Song said, noting that no matter how the small fraction of people slandered, they would not stop Xinjiang's development.

The event was jointly held by the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (IDCPC) and the CPC regional committee of Xinjiang. It was part of a series of activities held by the department on "Stories of CPC" to explain the CPC's practices and achievements across China to the international community.

The Global Times has learned that the timing of the event has special meaning: it was the first thematic briefing held by the IDCPC in 2021 - the year that marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC. The 46th UN Human Rights Council also opened on Monday.

At the 46th regular session of the Human Rights Council that opened on Monday, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, in a recorded speech, accused China of torture, forced labor and sterilizations that he said were taking place against Uygurs on an "industrial scale" in Xinjiang.

Raab called for UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet or another independent expert to be given "urgent and unfettered access" to Xinjiang and said that there should be a resolution at the council to this effect.

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the UN Human Rights Council on Monday that Xinjiang-related issues are in essence about countering violent terrorism and separatism. Basic facts show there has never been a so-called "genocide" and "forced labor" in Xinjiang.

Such inflammatory accusations are fabricated out of ignorance and prejudice. They are simply malicious and politically-driven hypes, and couldn't be further from the truth. The door to Xinjiang is always open. China also welcomes the High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit Xinjiang, Wang said at the UN HRC.

Many party leaders who attended Xinjiang’s event via video link also shared their views of Xinjiang's economic development and achievements in poverty alleviation, and refuted rumors of "forced labor" and "genocide" of ethnic groups.

Representatives from more than 100 political parties from Islamic countries also attended the online briefing, showing their interest, understanding and support for China and using the platform to strengthen the exchange of experiences in governance.

Chinese officials said the briefing, held at the beginning of the year marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC and the first year for implementing the country's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), demonstrates the openness and confidence of Xinjiang.

Tep Ngorn, a member of Central Standing Committee of Cambodian People's Party and 2nd Vice President of the Senate, said at the event that there is no one-fit-for-all way to deal with human rights issues, but human rights should not be used as an excuse to interfere with other countries' domestic affairs.

Some countries with malicious purposes are defaming the CPC's image by hyping Xinjiang related topics, a move that is despicable and should be firmly opposed, Tep Ngorn said, noting that he spoke highly of China's efforts to help the development of ethnic groups as well as their cultures.

The cultures and languages of ethnic groups have been preserved in the Xinjiang region and the Chinese government has set an example to the international community in protecting ethnic minorities, Turkish Patriotic Party chairman Doğu Perinçek said in an interview on the sidelines of the event.

In response to claims of “genocide” in the Xinjiang region, Perinçek said that they are lies made by Western countries and are the opposite of the truth.

The Turkish politician said that “forced labor” and “genocide” are conspiracies made by the US and the West for political purposes. “We condemn the deeds of interfering with other countries’ domestic affairs and we Turkish people stand with the Chinese people,” he said.


Party chief rejects Xinjiang genocide claims, foreign delegates condemn West’s interference in region - Global Times

As highlighted above, an invitation for the accusers has been given publicly by the Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister.

Will the accusers accept it and report on their experience or continue to hide behind their self-inflicted hearsay?

[misskit]

^ Source Party chief rejects Xinjiang genocide claims, foreign delegates condemn West’s interference in region - Global Times

[russellsimpson]

Important to note that it was the Canadian parliament that adopted the motion. The Trudeau government itself hasn't done so although I doubt the Chinese are going to much appreciate the distinction.

Although Trudeau and partners have officially recognized Canada's treatment of it's indigenous population as a genocide they refuse to do so in this case. China accounts for only seven percent of Canada's foreign trade so it's not as though Chinese economic reprisals, which surely will come, are going to cause too much misery hereabouts.

[harrybarracuda]

So we've got Turkey that always bristles at the use of the word "Genocide".... and Cambodia, that has its tongue shoved even more firmly up the chinky sphincter.

Wow, that's a broad spectrum of support eh?

[Latindancer]

The idea of the manufactured perspective has long been echoed throughout history from the propaganda playbooks of Nazi Germany to Russia's fabled "Potemkin villages", the fake structures designed to deceive the viewer into believing a situation is better than it really is.
Such tours have been a staple for communist authoritarian regimes in North Korea and Cambodia, in a bid to mask atrocities and dupe foreign observers.
But new technology offered another glimpse behind Xinjiang's facade, as
Satellite images taken before and after the Government-arranged tour showed security structures like watch towers had been removed, and sporting fields installed.
Those images from space, paired with a scrawl of Uyghur graffiti that appeared to betray a sense of hopelessness, revealed cracks in the carefully crafted facade.


How China'''s orchestrated tours of Xinjiang echo the '''Potemkin villages''' of authoritarian regimes - ABC News

[panama hat]

An incredibly sad and ridiculous BBC report . . . how utterly repellant a country it is.

Canadian Lawmakers Approve Motion Labeling Xinjiang Abuses Genocide

Party chief rejects Xinjiang genocide claims

Of course he did otherwise he'd be taken out the back and jailed or put to death for anti-Chinese actions

The Monday event, themed "A Better Life for All," focused on how the Communist Party of China (CPC) regional committee of Xinjiang implements various policies to allow local residents to enjoy better lives.

It'd be funny if it weren't so serious . . . an absolutely revolting country and its leadership . . . and its supporters like OhNo

[Wakey]

The world is beginning to turn against China. How long until it is kicked out of the Security Council?

[pickel]

The world is beginning to turn against China.

It's a shame Trudeau isn't joining the world in that endeavor.

[russellsimpson]

^ Exactly.

Trudeau seems to have a soft spot for China. I wonder why?

[Wakey]

He locked up little Ms Huawei for long enough didn't he?

[Klondyke]

Rohingya, Yemeni, Ethiopia, Eritrea next...

[Wakey]

Taiwan.

[panama hat]

Rohingya, Yemeni, Ethiopia, Eritrea next...

China wants to put them all in concentration camps as well?

[Wakey]

It would put the rest of the world in one if it could.

[harrybarracuda]

The world is beginning to turn against China. How long until it is kicked out of the Security Council?

Do you know the mechanism for that?

[Wakey]

^ It would be similar to the way Taiwan's government was removed.

[harrybarracuda]

This is the bit where he goes and googles it, and slowly a little light bulb moves from off to very dim.

[Listerman]

The world is beginning to turn against China. How long until it is kicked out of the Security Council?

Until such time that greedy Western Capitalists can find a country other than China that is able to produce consumerism tat in the quantity and at a price that allows the Western Capitalists to make massive profits, nothing substantial will change. Hence, you are living in an alternative reality.

[Backspin]

Until such time that greedy Western Capitalists can find a country that is able to produce consumerism tat in the quantity and at a price that allows the Western Capitalists to make massive profits, nothing substantial will change. Hence, you are living in an alternative reality.

China is the US, EU and Australia's biggest trade partner. Yet they are trying to cold war with it. Its partly China's fault too for jumping head first into bed with the US. They could have had their own reginal trade bloc instead of jumping into bed with the US under the banner of hyper globalism

[Switch]

China has no need for a trade bloc. It is buying infrastructure projects in poor countries using loans to leverage influence, and providing work for Chinese expats.
It was doing that with Chinese labour at the advent of railways in the old Wild West.
China started its journey manufacturing cheap plastic novelties for western consumers. The novelty wore off when stuff broke almost as soon as the wrapper was off.
Today they are doing the same with big ticket items like cars and white goods, trying in vain to copy the Japanese and German manufacturing hegemony. That shit is cheap because they can control labour costs, but it still breaks very quickly. All they are doing now, is making more cheap tat, for domestic consumption, and leveraging poor countries to buy their shit.

They don’t need no trade bloc. It’s just DIY consumerism, built on rubbish.

[harrybarracuda]

China has no need for a trade bloc. It is buying infrastructure projects in poor countries using loans to leverage influence, and providing work for Chinese expats.
It was doing that with Chinese labour at the advent of railways in the old Wild West.
China started its journey manufacturing cheap plastic novelties for western consumers. The novelty wore off when stuff broke almost as soon as the wrapper was off.
Today they are doing the same with big ticket items like cars and white goods, trying in vain to copy the Japanese and German manufacturing hegemony. That shit is cheap because they can control labour costs, but it still breaks very quickly. All they are doing now, is making more cheap tat, for domestic consumption, and leveraging poor countries to buy their shit.

They don’t need no trade bloc. It’s just DIY consumerism, built on rubbish.

In fairness, post WW-II, a derisive comment was to refer to something as "Jap Copy".

[Neverna]

This is the bit where he goes and googles it, and slowly a little light bulb moves from off to very dim.

It's a she. 'Tis Moose, so you have to set your expectations fairly low, Arry.

[panama hat]

'Tis Moose

PB? Marilyn? Nah, I don't think so.

[harrybarracuda]

It's a she. 'Tis Moose, so you have to set your expectations fairly low, Arry.

Not unless she's taken a kilo of Xanax.