New York, Dec 10 US-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged the Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to make human rights abuses by Chinese authorities a central focus of his China visit scheduled for January 13-17.
According to HRW, Carney’s trip to China -- the first by a Canadian Prime Minister in more than eight years — comes amid strained Canada-China relations as Chinese President Xi Jinping has intensified repression both at home and abroad.
The Chinese government, it said, unlawfully detained two Canadians as hostages between 2018 and 2021 to pressure the Canadian government to free an executive of the Chinese tech giant Huawei.
“Prime Minister Carney should recognise that the Chinese government's deepening repression threatens not just the rights of people in China but, increasingly, Canada’s core interests and values. Carney should ensure that engagements with the Chinese government on trade and security are consistent with Canada's values, which include the promotion of human rights," said Maya Wang, Deputy Asia Director at HRW.
The rights body stated that the key issues PM Carney should raise include links between the Chinese government's forced labour and imports to Canada; the persecution and imprisonment of human rights defenders; and China’s targetting of critics abroad, including in Canada.
Emphasising the Chinese government’s labour rights abuses, which extend beyond the Uyghur region, the HRW said that its laws prohibit independent labour unions, and that it detains and imprisons labour activists, cracks down on labour protests, and has shuttered labour monitoring organisations in Hong Kong.
“Canadians shouldn’t have to worry about purchasing products tainted by forced labour. Pressing Beijing to ensure that businesses respect workers’ rights protects Canadian consumers,” Wang said.
In Hong Kong, the rights body said, where an estimated 300,000 Canadians reside, the Chinese government has largely dismantled freedoms of expression, association, and assembly; free and fair elections; fair trial rights; and judicial independence.
“China has also increasingly carried out cross-border abuses—known as transnational repression—to oppress critics of the government abroad, including residents and citizens in Canada. In one case, the Chinese government harassed a Canadian political candidate and a China critic during an election campaign,” the HRW stated.
While Canadian officials, it said, have spoken out about some cross-border abuses, Carney should show that his government is taking transnational repression seriously by raising the issue directly with President Xi.
“The Chinese government’s abuses fall hard on the people of China, but they also affect people around the world. During his visit, Prime Minister Carney shouldn’t squander his opportunity to use diplomatic channels to raise human rights concerns,” Wang stated.
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