In response to China’s human rights abuses against Uighurs in Xinjiang, the Canadian government introduced a series of new measures this week, including a ban on domestic companies doing business with businesses involved in forced labor of Uighurs. Meanwhile, China’s oppression of Uighurs and hostage diplomacy involving the seizure of two Canadians have led to a worsening perception of China among Canadian citizens, with nearly half advocating a reduction in trade with China.
Responding to the news on Thursday, Rahima Mahmut, an ethnic Uighur human rights activist who participated in a Canadian seminar on human rights policy in China, said she welcomed Canada’s approach, but that it was only a first step.
She said, “It is very important to clearly target individuals and entities that violate the human rights of Uyghurs, and the U.S. has done this, so why not Canada and the U.K.? We hope the free world will follow suit.”
On Wednesday, the Chinese Embassy in Canada responded on its official website, saying “this is purely a farce” and “strongly condemned” the Canadian side’s wrongdoing on the Xinjiang issue, saying Canada’s approach is “suppressing the development of Xinjiang and interfering in China’s internal affairs.
Canada concerned about Uighurs’ human rights
The measures announced by Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne and International Trade Minister Mary Ng include a ban on imports of products made with forced labor, a requirement that Canadian companies ensure that they do not export products to China that could be used for surveillance and human rights abuses, that the government will provide business advice to Xinjiang-related entities, and that it will conduct forced labor and supply chain risk investigations.
The statement from Foreign Affairs Canada said reports indicate that large numbers of Uighurs from Xinjiang are being transferred to factories across China and subjected to forced labor, and that these practices affect global supply chains in a variety of industries. It also noted that Canada is gravely concerned about China’s human rights violations against Uighurs, as well as other ethnic minorities, including their forced surveillance, mass arbitrary arrests, torture and ill-treatment.
In a statement, Ng Fung Yee said, “The government is committed to ensuring that Canadian companies uphold Canadian values wherever they operate.”
Canada has a long history of concern about the human rights of Uighurs in China. Last November, Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rea, publicly called for an international investigation into the Chinese government’s treatment of Uighurs in a manner consistent with the U.N. definition of “genocide.
And in response to China’s human rights concerns, Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, a former senior Canadian finance and natural resources official, told Voice of America, “The Canadian government could do more, such as using the Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.”
In late 2017, Canada passed the Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, which imposes sanctions on individual officials who violate human rights. Currently, Canada has about seventy individuals on its sanctions list, including Russian and Saudi officials, but has not yet included any Chinese government officials.
However, in an interview with the Voice of America, Mr. Shaughnessy, general counsel of the Canada-China Business Council, said, “This is a statement that has to be made at the political level in Canada. The total amount of business that Northwest China does with Canada is very small, so (this initiative) will not have a big impact on Canadian trade with China.”
“Canada’s economy is not as dependent on China as one might think.”
When relations with China are mentioned in Canada, the central issue of discussion is how human rights and the economy are balanced.
Shuvaloy Majumdar, program director and senior fellow for foreign policy at the Macdonald Laurier Institute, an independent Canadian think tank, began his interview with the Voice of America by saying that more than 80 percent of Canada’s foreign trade is with the United States, while trade with China Trade accounts for only about 4 percent of Canada’s total foreign trade . The Canadian economy is not as dependent on China as many policymakers claim.
By contrast, he said, Australia’s trade with China accounts for 33 percent of its total trade.
Australia has a lot of practical concerns that need to be addressed,” Majumdar said. Their long-term plan for dealing with China is strategic economic cooperation, careful and calm diplomatic control, and an alliance with the West.”
He argued that Canada should not position itself as a country caught between the United States and China, but should see that there are many countries in the international community that share Canada’s desire to offset China’s economic control.
But lawyer Sauvé argues that, from his observations, it appears that the two decks of cards, political and economic, can be played separately in Canada’s relationship with China.
Whether it’s the recent Hong Kong issue or the Xinjiang issue, trade between Canada and China has not actually been significantly affected, regardless of the level of public opinion on either side,” he said. In particular, in 2020, Canada’s total foreign trade fell significantly, but the percentage of trade with China rose instead. This shows that the complementarity of the two economies and the demand in both markets is still there.”
Poll: 45% of Canadians want less trade with China
A poll conducted at the end of December last year showed that 45 percent of Canadian respondents believe the government should reduce trade with China. Only 10 per cent believe that trade with China should be increased.
Interestingly, in terms of regional distribution, British Columbia in the west and Ontario in the east had the highest percentage of respondents who wanted to “reduce trade with China,” also at 46.6 percent, while Vancouver and Toronto in these two provinces have the highest concentration of Chinese immigrants.
Canadians’ perceptions of China turned markedly worse in the wake of the Meng Wanzhou case, when Canada arrested huawei‘s finance director Meng Wanzhou at the request of the United States in late 2018 and China subsequently detained “two Canadian Michaels,” Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. Spavor).
The Canadian government has been accusing China of hostage diplomacy. And a poll taken in the middle of last year showed that only 14 percent of Canadians had a positive impression of China.
Canada needs a long-term strategy to deal with China
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last year that he would revisit relations with China and set up a committee on Canada-China relations in Parliament to do so, but his new policy on China has been elusive.
In the new year, in addition to the Xinjiang issue, the Canadian government will continue to face the Hong Kong issue, whether to ban Huawei’s 5G, and the Meng Wanzhou extradition case and the “two Macs” issue, which have dragged on for more than two years.
In contrast to previous years, there have been many calls from Canadian political, academic, and private circles for the Trudeau government to adopt a tougher China policy.
According to Margaret McCaig-Johnston, “There has been a shift in the relationship between the two countries, both in terms of trust and in terms of China’s intentions. The Canada-China relationship used to be friendly, but now, China has started taking Canadian hostages, so the trust is gone. The second is, China’s intentions. China’s intentions are clear: it wants to become a military superpower that surpasses the United States. As an ally of the United States, Canada needs to change its strategy toward China.
In the past few years, Majurda said, people have witnessed a change in China’s approach internally and externally, with China using trade as a weapon. Canada should seriously consider its overall interests in the pan-Pacific region and its long-term plans to deal with China.
And lawyer Sauvé said there should be room for progress in Canada-China economic relations, such as future cooperation on climate change, and pandemic prevention.
But he also acknowledged that Canada’s view of China has changed in recent years, that China’s foreign policy has changed, and that it faces a different international community situation, so that there is no clear, enforceable trade agreement between the two sides.
Finally, he compared the Canada-China relationship to playing chess, saying, “The relationship between Canada and China should not be played as checkers or chess, as it used to be, but as Go, so that both sides have more room for imagination, room for layout, more room for maneuvering, rather than will die there.”
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