The Canadian government has warned in its latest travel advice to China that people with family or ethnic ties to China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region could face “the risk of arbitrary detention.
Global Affairs Canada updated its travel advice to China on Sunday (April 11) on its website. The advice states that Chinese Communist authorities are increasingly detaining ethnic minorities and Muslims in the Xinjiang region “without due process. Some Chinese family members of Canadian citizens have been detained.
“If you have family or ethnic ties to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, you may be at risk of arbitrary detention,” the recommendation says. The recommendation says.
The Canadian government also said the situation in the Xinjiang region is tense and accurate information is difficult to obtain. Chinese Communist authorities can impose curfews and restrictions at short notice.
Global Affairs Canada advises travellers to avoid rallies and demonstrations, carry identification documents with them and follow the instructions of local authorities. Global Affairs also anticipates increased security measures and frequent security checks in the region, in addition to the possibility of significant travel delays.
Global Affairs also mentioned that foreign journalists and other media workers in China face considerable restrictions on their work, and that “you should be especially vigilant if researching or reporting on topics critical of the government, sensitive, and related to places like Xinjiang-Tibet.”
Some international human rights groups say at least one million Uighurs and other Muslim minorities are held in internment camps in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. The detainees are allegedly subjected to human rights violations in the camps, including torture, forced sterilization, sexual abuse, political indoctrination and forced labor.
Canada had imposed sanctions on Chinese Communist Party officials in late March, citing the Xinjiang issue. In a statement, Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs said, “There is a growing body of evidence pointing to systematic, state-led human rights violations by the Chinese Communist authorities. This includes the mass arbitrary detention of more than one million Uighurs and other Muslim minorities on the basis of religion and ethnicity, as well as political re-education, forced labor, torture and forced sterilization.”
The Chinese Communist Party has pushed back against Canada’s sanctions against Chinese Communist Party officials. on March 28 the Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that “in response to the unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States and Canada on March 22 on people and entities related to China’s Xinjiang based on lies and false information,” China decided to impose sanctions on Zhuang Wenhao and the Canadian House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on International Human Rights China decided to impose sanctions on Chong Wenhao and two leaders of the Canadian House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on International Human Rights and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.
Michael Chong is a federal member of the Canadian Conservative Party. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted in response, “The Communist Party’s sanctions are an attack on transparency and freedom of expression – core values of our democracy. We stand with our MPs against these unacceptable actions and we will continue to work with our international partners to defend human rights around the world.”
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