Tories urge taking harder line against China for ‘genocide’
Commons told to be vocal on crimes against Uighurs
OTTAWA — The Conservatives called Thursday for the House of Commons to formally declare crimes against minority Uighur Muslims in China a genocide.
The move is the latest by the Tories to ratchet up pressure on the Liberal government to take action in response to the situation in China’s Xinjiang province. The motion is non-binding on the government nor does it lay out what any next steps ought to be.
A vote is expected Monday. Ahead of the debate Thursday, Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole said a signal must be sent to the Chinese regime. “On a matter like genocide, Canada needs to send a clear and unequivocal signal that we will stand up for human rights and the dignity of human rights, even if it means sacrificing some economic opportunity. Our values are not for sale.”
International legal experts and human rights advocates have been amassing documentation for the past decade on the systematic persecution of Uighur Muslims in China.
The Chinese government has been accused of mass surveillance and incarceration of thousands of Uighurs, forcing them into labour camps for the purposes of indoctrinating the mostly Muslim minority into mainstream Chinese society.
Reports have also emerged of efforts to forcibly reduce the growth of the population by sterilizing women and forcing them to undergo abortions.
Taken together, a committee of MPs concluded in a report last year, “the actions of the Chinese Communist Party constitute genocide as laid out in the Genocide Convention.”
The Chinese government has consistently denied any wrongdoing, disputing international criticism and claiming the camps they are running are voluntary job and language training efforts.
The Conservatives, as well as others, have called for sanctions on Chinese officials involved in perpetrating the abuses, and in recent weeks, calls have also grown louder for countries to boycott the 2022 Olympics in Beijing or for the event to be moved.