Allies needed in defending China’s Uyghurs

The Chinese government’s vicious persecution of the country’s Uyghurs must rank as one of the worst violations of human rights in the world today.

At this moment, an estimated one million members of this embattled Muslim minority are incarcerated in “re-education” camps in northwest China while countless others toil on farms and in factories as forced labour, producing goods that could end up on retail-outlet shelves near you. In Chinese hospitals, Uyghur women are being forcibly sterilized. In Chinese schools the language, religion and culture of Uyghur children is repressed. All this has been painstakingly detailed by Uyghur refugees who fled China. All this has been documented, too, by international journalists, academics, United Nations experts, satellites and videos

And all this finally convinced 266 Canadian members of Parliament on Monday to vote in favour of a resolution stating that China’s abuse of the Uyghurs amounts to genocide, as defined by the UN. It was a bold move and, given the atrocious conduct of the Chinese government, defensible.

But it was also a very limited move, despite the use of the morally charged word “genocide.” It does not represent the official position of the Government of Canada — even though most MPS, including many Liberal caucus members, backed the motion. Instead, it is a non-binding resolution. Neither Prime Minister Justin Trudeau nor any member of his cabinet supported it. So where do we go from here?

Canadians should not rush to blame the prime minister and his cabinet for abstaining, though some critics have. There’s no reason to doubt the sincerity of the MPS who backed this week’s declaration, which was brought forward by the Conservatives.

That said, considering how inflamed Canada’s relations with China are, there are compelling reasons for Trudeau to tread carefully, for now at least. Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor have been imprisoned by Chinese authorities for more than two years in retaliation for Canada’s arrest of Meng Wanzhou, a top Chinese high-tech executive who’s wanted on fraud charges in the United States.

It’s easy for Conservative Leader Erin O’toole to accuse Trudeau of failing to defend human rights. What would O’toole say if the government had supported his party’s motion and the Chinese punished the “two Michaels” even more severely? We already know this week’s genocide motion has infuriated the government in Beijing.

This fraught situation demands Trudeau perform a delicate jugging act, balancing the need to protect two Canadians with the need to defend an entire people. What matters most is that, moving forward, his government finds ways to go beyond words and actually alleviate the plight of the Uyghurs.

After this week’s motion, some lawmakers called on Ottawa to start a refugee program for Uyghurs. Others advocated for new rules that would block the import of goods made with forced labour as well as sanctions on the officials responsible for oppressing the Uyghurs. In addition to these proposals, another part of this week’s motion urges Trudeau to push for moving the 2022 Winter Olympics out of China.

To be sure, Canada could begin some of these initiatives on its own. Ultimately, Canada’s best strategy would be to help build an international alliance of like-minded countries. Considering that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently agreed China is guilty of genocide, the U.S. might be brought onside. That would be an important start. There’s no way Canada’s 338 MPS can, on their own, budge the Chinese behemoth. With the aid of lawmakers in the U.S., Britain, Europe and Japan, they might convince it to step back.