Canada‘s Parliament is the first legislature in the world to find that China is committing “genocide” against the Uighur minority in Xinjiang. Despite the Chinese government’s heavy criticism of Canada, new polls show that a majority of Canadians approve of the parliament’s action and believe a tougher policy toward China is warranted.
After the Canadian Parliament found that China’s actions against the Uighurs in Xinjiang constituted genocide, the Chinese government not only attacked Canada through official diplomatic channels, but also mobilized some Canadian community leaders to support the Chinese government’s position. But according to a new Nanos poll, 83 percent of Canadians agree with the parliament’s position that China’s treatment of the Uighurs definitely meets the UN definition of genocide. However, the absence of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet members from last month’s parliamentary vote also caused dissatisfaction among the majority of Canadians, with 59% disapproving of the Trudeau government’s approach.
Because of human rights abuses against Uighurs, 70 per cent of Canadians favor moving next year’s Winter Olympics in Beijing to another location. 62 per cent also support economic sanctions against China, and 69 per cent support Ottawa providing a fast-track, exclusive refugee application process for Uighurs and other Muslims in China.
According to Nanos Polling, Canadian citizens are increasingly hardening their stance on China, mainly due to the arbitrary detention of two Canadians by China, China’s retaliatory import ban on Canadian agricultural products and huawei‘s involvement in cybersecurity, all of which are unbearable for Canadians, and they want to see substantial countermeasures from the government.
Meanwhile, Canada’s Parliament continues to be concerned about the persecution of the Uighur community. John McKay, chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Public Safety and National Security and a member of the Liberal Party who specializes in foreign affairs, gave a nearly 10-minute speech in Parliament on May 5 in which he detailed the Chinese authorities’ actions against Hong Kong, the intimidation of Taiwan, the forced organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners and prisoners of conscience, and the mutilation of the Uighur people. “I would not be surprised to see credible reports from many human rights organizations and institutions describing the situation of the Uyghurs who are subjected to various methods of mutilation, because the hegemonic style of the Chinese government is intolerable, which is why I also support the motion that the Uyghurs are experiencing genocide.”
Quebec MP Luc Desilets said, “We should boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing because what China is doing to the Uighurs in Xinjiang is inhumane, raping women in concentration camps, slave labor, and forcibly separating Parents and children is unthinkable.”
Conservative MP Chuang Wen Ho also said that the Trudeau government should not hesitate to take concrete action beyond condemnation, which is what the majority of Canadian people want.
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