Canada-based Uyghur activists urge government to take up China's human rights abuses in Xinjiang
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Gate of what is officially known as a vocational skills education centre in Huocheng County in Xinjiang (Photo courtesy: BBC)
Ottawa: As Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Canada for high-level talks, a leading Uyghur international advocacy group called on the Canadian government to confront China’s ongoing human rights abuses and reject any diplomatic reset that ignores accountability.
Yi’s three-day visit (from May 28 to 30) reportedly comes amid renewed efforts to deepen bilateral cooperation through trade and strategic agreements between the two countries.
This marks the first visit by a Chinese Foreign Minister to Canada in nearly a decade.
Canada-based Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project (URAP) appealed to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Foreign Minister Anita Anand to publicly raise the mass detention and surveillance of Uyghurs in East Turkistan, also known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, during their meeting with the Chinese Foreign Minister.
It further urged the Canadian leaders to highlight the ongoing forced labour and supply-chain abuses and the growing pattern of transnational repression by Beijing targeting Uyghur activists and human rights defenders in Canada.
The URAP warned Canada against advancing memoranda of understanding and broader strategic partnership agreements with Beijing amid the persistent "genocide" and "transnational repression" against Uyghurs. The group cautioned that such actions would undermine Canada's human rights commitments.
The group also raised concerns over "undisclosed" Canada–China law enforcement cooperation agreements and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) memoranda of understanding involving information sharing, investigative assistance, and coordination with Chinese public security authorities.
Citing critics, it said that such agreements lack transparency and parliamentary scrutiny and may expose vulnerable communities to further risk.
“We cannot normalise relations with the Chinese government while Uyghurs remain imprisoned, families are separated, and survivors of repression continue to seek justice. Economic cooperation must never come at the expense of human rights,” said URAP’s Executive Director, Mehmet Tohti.
The URAP called for renewed attention to the case of Canadian citizen Huseyin Celil, a Uyghur-Canadian who has remained imprisoned in China since 2006 after being detained during a visit to Uzbekistan and later transferred to Chinese custody.
His family and supporters,it said, have long criticised Beijing for refusing to recognise his Canadian citizenship and denying meaningful consular access.
“The continued imprisonment of Huseyin Celil is a painful reminder that Canadian citizens are not protected when the government prioritises diplomatic convenience over human rights,” said Tohti.
Furthermore, the URAP raised alarm over expanded visa-free travel arrangements with China, arguing that closer mobility and diplomatic normalisation should not proceed while Beijing continues to persecute Uyghurs, silence dissidents, and intimidate diaspora communities abroad.
“Greater openness with China could increase opportunities for transnational repression, including surveillance, coercion, and intimidation of activists and community members living in Canada and other democratic countries, and therefore should be approached with strong safeguards and clear human rights conditions,” the group noted.
To put the Canadian position in perspective, Canada's House of Commons had voted overwhelmingly (266 votes to 0) to declare China's treatment of its Uyghur minority population a genocide. The resolution was supported by all opposition parties and a good number of members of the governing Liberal Party.
(IANS input)