Where does Canada Stand on the Muslim Concentration Camps in China?

Sultan Chatila (G8)

Published Issue 3 2020-2021

Topical

The Chinese concentration camps have been considered genocide, but what is Canada’s stance? China has built more than 400 concentration camps in the Xinjiang region. The camps in China’s west are used to detain Muslims including Uighurs and other Muslim minorities. There have been over 1.5 million Uighur Muslims in these detention centres, some of whom died in captivity. Chinese authorities initially denied the existence of the concentration camps, but later described them as “vocational training and re-education programmes that aim to alleviate poverty and counter terrorism threats.” Also, the Chinese government accused the Muslim detainees with what they claimed to be legal offences including owning the Qur’an and abstaining from eating pork. The Chinese government has not been transparent about the camps. Most information about the camps and the wider government anti-Muslim campaign has been exposed by Muslim survivors who have fled abroad.

Many countries have declared these camps an act of genocide. So what is Canada’s stance on this issue?

According to the BBC, Canada’s parliament is in agreement that China's treatment of Uighurs qualifies as genocide. A parliamentary motion was passed this month in order to cement Canada’s position on this issue. The motion which passed 266 to 0 was supported by all opposition parties. Additionally, a handful of lawmakers from the governing Liberal Party also voted to pass an amendment asking Canada to call on the International Olympic Committee to move the 2022 Winter Olympics from Beijing "if the Chinese government continues this genocide". These initiatives were not welcomed by China who, according to a Reuters report, responded by condemning and rejecting Canada's motion.

However, Mr. Trudeau and the majority of the Liberal Cabinet has so far been hesitant to adopt the genocide discourse around China's actions against the Uighur minority in Xinjiang. Only one member of his cabinet, Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau, appeared in parliament for the vote. Trudeau and his party deemed the genocide accusation as "extremely loaded", saying that further examination is needed before such conclusions could be made. Officials higher up may be taking this approach because they want to keep relations with China strong in order to have good trade and other aspects of good relations. This stands in sharp contrast to the position of the opposition leader Erin O'Toole, who stated that it was necessary 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".

Is China committing genocide against Muslims? This has been a divisive question in Canada so far.