China's envoy to Canada is telling Canadian parliamentarians to butt out of his country's internal affairs through their pending vote on declaring a genocide against ethnic Muslim Uighurs in its Xinjiang province. The Conservatives tabled a motion in Parliament this past week calling on Canada to formally declare crimes against Uighur Muslims in China a genocide. Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole has said the motion and subsequent vote is needed 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." Bob Rae, Canada's ambassador to the United Nations, called on the UN in November to investigate whether China's persecution of the Uighurs constitutes genocide. 1:54A Canadian parliamentary subcommittee concluded in an October report that China's treatment of Uighurs is a genocide, a finding China rejected as baseless.

Source: CBC News February 20, 2021 23:15 UTC