Canadian MPs voted Monday to label Beijing’s treatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang as genocide, a move angrily slammed by China as a “malicious provocation.”
Rights groups believe at least one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim minorities have been incarcerated in camps in the northwestern region, where China is also accused of forcibly sterilising women and imposing forced labor.
The motion “Uighurs in China have been and are being subject to genocide” passed unanimously in the Canadian House of Commons, and ministers called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to officially label it as such.
The motion also called for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics to be moved if the “genocide” continues.
The United States has already used the label, with the administration of former president Donald Trump slamming China in January for a “systematic attempt to destroy Uighurs.”
Trudeau had said Friday that there were significant reports of abuses coming out of Xinjiang. And following a G7 meeting, he said Canada was consulting with its international allies on the use of the term “genocide” for the treatment of Uighurs.
Beijing hit back Tuesday, calling the motion a “shameful act” and “malicious provocation against the 1.4 billion people of China.”
“Canada’s attempt to contain China’s development through passing the Xinjiang-related motion will not succeed,” the Chinese embassy in Ottawa said in a statement.
The embassy accused “hypocritical and shameless” Canadian lawmakers of “using the excuse of human rights to engage in political manipulation on Xinjiang.”…..read more
Source: France24