QUESTION PERIOD — Foreign Affairs and International Trade
Protection of Religious Minorities
December 11, 2019
Honourable senators, my question is for the Government Leader in the Senate. Yesterday marked the seventy-first anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Human Rights Day. Until now, the Chinese communist government is continuing a campaign of persecution against spiritual practices of Falun Dafa and Falun Gong for too long — again, those who simply wish to practise truthfulness, compassion and forbearance.
Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Falun Gong practitioners and believers of other faiths are languishing in prisons across China, where they are often tortured and even harvested for their organs. As we know, we are not the only documented atrocities perpetrated by China against ethnic and ethno-religious minorities.
What has the Government of Canada done to speak out against these extremely horrendous atrocities and crimes against humanity?
I thank the honourable senator for his question. As was noted yesterday, the United Nations declaration has strong Canadian fingerprints. John Humphrey and Canadian diplomats have been there not only at its creation but throughout the decades of vigilance since. The Government of Canada has, on a number of occasions, raised the issues of concern for human rights, be they the Uighurs or other persecuted minorities in China.
These issues have been raised directly with the government of China. The Canadian government has spoken in various fora, including the United Nations Human Rights Council, urging Chinese authorities to release those who are held for their beliefs. I would also note the recent statements this year, where Canada, alongside 21 countries representing a broad range of like-minded governments, wrote the Human Rights Council expressing these concerns, and in October — just a few weeks ago — the United Kingdom, on behalf of a number of countries, including Canada, expressed concerns with respect to this matter directly with China at the recent United Nations General Assembly.
Canada calls on the government of China to respect the human rights of its citizens, and Canada works with other countries in various fora to make this clear.
Senator Harder, in 2017, our new Minister of Foreign Affairs, François-Philippe Champagne, told the China Global Television Network:
“In a world of uncertainty, of unpredictability, of questioning about the rules that have been established to govern our trading relationship, Canada, and I would say China, stand out as [a] beacon of stability, predictability, a rule-based system, a very inclusive society.”
It has been estimated that one million Uighur Muslims and other minorities have been interned in China’s so-called re-education camps. Chinese government documents revealed in November have detailed the systemic human rights abuses at these mass detention camps.
Senator Harder, my question is: How does China’s treatment of the Uighur Muslims and other religious minority groups square with Minister Champagne’s view of China as a very inclusive society?
I thank the honourable senator for her question. I can only repeat what I’ve already said with respect to the Uighurs and other persecuted groups. But let me say that Canada’s relationship with China is multifaceted and, certainly, Canada has found China to be like-minded with respect to the trading regime of global recognition of the institutions of trade and the general agreements that we have reached that are monitored by the WTO. Canada and China — certainly Canada — have provided some guidance to like-minded parties in the WTO on how to move forward to preserve the international trading system.
The honourable senator will know that China has supported a number of initiatives Canada has taken in this regard. It is important that even in a period of recognized challenges and difficulties in the bilateral relationship, the Government of Canada continues to pursue Canadian interests in the bilateral economic relationship and works multilaterally to ensure the trading regime that we enjoy is upheld by all participants.
