Trudeau Refuses to Call Out Genocide of Uyghurs; China Upset Regardless

Despite Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s willingness to call out Canada’s treatment of our indigenous population as genocide, and the cited importance of such a statement, this week he refused to do the same regarding China’s treatment of their Uyghur population.

In a press conference earlier this week Trudeau was asked about his government’s conclusion of the genocide occurring in China, and what kind of evidence it would take for him to make such a declaration. 

Trudeau states here that genocide is an “extremely loaded” word, and that it should be looked at in the case of the Uyghurs, but that he would be making this determination on facts and evidence while deferring to the international community, as to ensure “not to weaken the application of genocide in situations in the past”.

The “international community” which first urged Trudeau to condemn the acts of Canada against its indigenous people as genocide, back in 2018, was an effort lead by Saudi Arabia; not exactly known as a bastion of human rights.

Trudeau’s response to these efforts was slightly different, he was not so hesitant to use the “extremely loaded” terminology, meaning he must have agreed that Canada’s treatment of indigenous people falls under the definition of genocide.

I have acknowledged that I accept the findings of the report, and the issue that we have is that people are getting wrapped up in debates over a very important and powerful term. As I’ve said, we accept the finding that this was genocide. And we will move forward to end this ongoing national tragedy.

The question many are asking now is, exactly how does China’s treatment of its Uyghur population not fit this same definition? 

Genocide is defined as the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group, but in order to properly assess whether our two populations can be properly compared it is necessary to look at the treatment of both groups. 

First, we take a look at the history of Canada’s indigenous population. In the early days of this new world, now known as Canada, the indigenous population fought battles with the settlers who were looking to conquer their land; which was eventually accomplished through a mixture of force and treaty measures (many of which were also obtained by force). 

Once the land was theirs the settlers abused the indigenous population, there was systemic racism and subjugation as well as concerted efforts to destroy the culture, language, and race of the indigenous peoples. This was done through family separation, white adoption, cultural suppression, and residential schools, among many other barbaric practices which the apparently “cultured” settlers were bringing with them.

As this was a systemic and concerted effort on behalf of a large portion of our population, and our leaders, this would certainly fit the definition of cultural and racial genocide.

Now let’s take a look at China’s treatment of the Uyghurs. 

Racism against the Uyghur people is quite ubiquitous among the Chinese population. Job searches that mention light-skin, business’ which portray signs stating “No Uyghurs”, discrimination on certain visible culturally significant practices such as growing one’s facial hair, are all commonplace.

Researcher Adrian Zenz states that, with over 1.5 million people incarcerated in vocational training centres, China is likely currently engaged in the largest incarceration of an ethno-religious minority since the Holocaust. The number is now thought to be over 3 million incarcerated. The Uyghurs religious and cultural practices have essentially been outlawed, their religion has been labeled a mental illness by the government, and failure to comply with cultural subjugation generally leads to incarceration. 

Furthermore, birth rates are now being controlled, as methods such as forced sterilization, forced birth control, forced abortions, and incarceration has been established. Regarding the use of the term genocide, Zenz states

I have long argued that the atrocity in the region is cultural genocide, not a literal genocide. I do continue to believe that, generally speaking, the Chinese government does not intend to physically eradicate the Uyghurs and Kazakhs, just to integrate, subjugate, dominate and assimilate them. However, this is coupled with a policy of ethno-racial domination, as the government has brought millions of Han Chinese settlers to the regions with promises of high salaries, jobs and free housing.

The reason why now this has changed we do need to probably call it genocide is quite simply because the evidence now, for the first time, very specifically meets one of the five criteria set forth by the United Nations Convention for the Punishment and Prevention of the Crime of Genocide from 1948, which specifically says the suppression of birth.

There have been videos released of blindfolded Uyghurs being forced onto trains for transport