Canada declared China’s treatment of its Muslim Uighur minority a genocide on Monday, a move Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not support.
Canada is now the second country to declare a genocide in China’s Xinjiang region after former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo did so before leaving office last month. That move is currently under review by the Biden administration.
“On a matter like genocide, Canada needs to send a clear and unequivocal signal that we will stand up for human rights and the dignity of human rights, even if it means sacrificing some economic opportunity,” Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole said last week when calling for the vote on the nonbinding resolution, which was brought forth by Canada’s main opposition party.
Trudeau and the senior members of his Cabinet were not present at the vote. He has been hesitant to support calls for declaring the persecution of Uighurs a genocide.