Communist authorities have set up technical training and re-education camps in the Xinjiang region to combat religion and promote ethnic and linguistic assimilation, which has been condemned by many countries around the world. The photo shows a re-education camp in Xinjiang.
Chinese Communist authorities have set up technical training and re-education camps in the Xinjiang region to combat religion and promote ethnic and linguistic assimilation, and have been condemned by many countries around the world. Government documents obtained by the Canadian media show that at least three listed companies established by Canada in Xinjiang have been in operation for the past two decades.
Canadian companies have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the Xinjiang region over the past two decades, according to foreign government analysis documents obtained by The Globe and Mail. The document’s providers declined to be named because they are not authorized to release the analysis publicly.
The document tracks more than two decades of investment by Canadian companies, whose investments in energy and mining projects in Xinjiang have made Canada one of the top five foreign investors in the region. Renewable energy giant Canadian Solar Inc. (also known as Atlas Solar Power Group and Atlas Solar) and two smaller junior mining companies, Dynasty Gold Corp. of Canada (DYNASTY GOLD CORP.) and GobiMin Inc. still continue to operate in the region.
Canadian Solar operates a 30-megawatt solar farm near Tumxuk, on the edge of the Taklamakan Desert, which was financed by a loan from the China Development Bank and involves the installation of 129,600 solar modules on 100 hectares of land, about a quarter of the size of Vancouver’s Stanley Park.
The city of Tumushuk houses the Textile and Vocational Training Center, which is located about five kilometers from the solar power plant. According to local government documents, the center’s curriculum includes skills instruction, as well as 126 hours a year of “ethics and practice” courses on history and religious policy.
“We regularly teach religious solidarity, the rule of law and the ‘two prohibitions,'” the training center said. The latter appears to be a ban on driving electric cars and motorcycles without a license.
The former detainee said that “legal education” is a key element of the teaching at the political indoctrination center.
“genocide in the name of fighting extremism”
The Communist government says it is leading Xinjiang to modernize its thinking in order to combat religious extremism in the region. Critics accuse the Communist government of committing genocide against the region’s mostly Uighur Muslims.
The United States has blacklisted Xinjiang leaders on human rights grounds, as well as companies involved in setting up the Communist Party’s surveillance system and employing forced labor. Multinational companies, including Adidas, have tried to separate their products from Xinjiang, and Adidas has tried not to use yarn made from Xinjiang cotton. But Ottawa has been reluctant to impose sanctions on the Communist Party or its officials.
However, the federal government last week took new steps to stop any Canadian company whose products come from forced labor in Xinjiang, requiring companies operating in Xinjiang to re-examine their employment and threatening to stop diplomatic aid and export loans to those who violate the rules. In Canada, it is illegal to import products made with forced labour.
Former Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne said earlier this month, “Canada is deeply concerned about the mass arbitrary detention and abuse of Uighurs and other minorities by the Chinese Communist authorities.”
Human rights groups say the treatment of people in Xinjiang is so brutal that Western companies have an obligation to take a hard look at their operations there.
They shouldn’t be there right now,” said Alex Gladstein, chief strategy officer at the Human Rights Foundation. The United Nations says the Chinese Communist Party is imprisoning millions of Uighurs.”
Elsewhere in China, former Muslim detainees have described being forced to work in factories at minimum wage. The Chinese Communist government denies the existence of forced labor. The U.S. National Security Council accuses Xinjiang of practicing “modern-day slavery.
Xinjiang’s rich resources attract foreign companies
Consulting firm Horizon Advisory has found ample evidence of forced labor at solar companies in Xinjiang.
Canadian Solar did not respond to media requests for comment, and reporters visited its headquarters in Guilho, Ontario, and the Chinese city of Suzhou.
In Suzhou, Canadian Solar occupies a large industrial area, with factories making packaging, plastics and electronic parts scattered around it. A group of people sat in chairs in the company’s front lobby, attending a meeting. But a receptionist in touch with the company’s marketing department said no one was available for interviews.
Xinjiang accounts for one-sixth of China’s land area, and the region’s rich resources have attracted Canadian miners.
For example, Vancouver-based Dynasty Gold of Canada lists its Qi2 gold mine in Hatu, a mining region in northwestern Xinjiang, as one of its major assets. The company owns a 70 percent stake in the property, with the other 30 percent held by local state-owned Xinjiang Non-Ferrous Metals Group.
Dynasty Gold has spent more than tens of thousands of dollars on the project, which holds an estimated 536,000 ounces of gold resources, worth about $1 billion at current prices. The company is currently engaged in a legal battle with its Chinese partner over ownership of the project and said in an investor filing that it is “actively seeking a settlement.
The Hatu project is less than an hour’s drive from the city of Karamay, where the Australian Strategic Policy Institute has identified six detention centers, two of which are being used as “re-education” centers for political indoctrination and skills training.
Dynasty Gold did not respond to a request for comment.
Gobi Minerals Ltd. has offices in Montreal and Hong Kong. It also has a 70 percent interest in the proposed Sawayaerdun gold mine in Xinjiang, 200 kilometers north of Kashgar Arnal, one of the most heavily regulated cities in China.
Gobi Mining CEO Felipe Tan said in an email that most of the company’s exploration work “is carried out by local exploration teams under subcontracts.
Any company operating in Xinjiang must seriously consider human rights due diligence, said Maya Wang, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch China.
In Xinjiang, Uighurs and other Muslims say even mild criticism of Communist rule can be seen as an expression of extremist ideology and justification for innocent detention in brainwashing centers.
Recent Comments