China says butt out; Canada calls for release of ‘arbitrarily’ detained Muslims

OTTAWA — Canada stood firm against Chinese criticism Thursday after the Trudeau government rallied more than a dozen countries in expressing concern to Beijing about its jailing of hundreds of thousands of its Muslim minority.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson accused Canada’s envoy and 14 others of going beyond their diplomatic roles by sending a letter that expressed concern about the incarcerations of China’s Muslim minorities in re-education camps in the northwestern region of Xinjiang.

Spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters the letter violated the terms of the Vienna Convention governing diplomatic relations and that the envoys should not “interfere in the internal affairs of other countries.”

She noted the letter, which was spearheaded by Canada, was based on hearsay, despite widely distributed reports from detainees, relatives and officials documenting the sweeping and seemingly arbitrary detentions.

A well-placed source from one of the 15 signatory countries also confirmed to The Canadian Press that Canada led the effort to send the letter.

The United Nations estimates as many as one million Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities are being held in arbitrary detention. Wikipedia reports in the last decades, “separatist conflict and radical Islam influence has plagued the region, with occasional terrorist attacks and clashes between separatist and government forces.”

Canada is deeply concerned by credible reports of the mass detention, repression and surveillance of Uighurs and other Muslims in Xinjiang,” said Adam Austen, a spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland.

Canada called on China to release all “arbitrarily” detained Muslims earlier this month at the UN where China’s human rights record was under review. Freeland also raised their plight with her Chinese counterpart.