This content was first published by Radio Free Asia, and it is now being reprinted with permission.
Two days after Canada imposed sanctions on senior Taiwanese authorities in early December over human rights concerns, China has announced” defenses” against American organizations and individuals.
In a press release on Saturday, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it would freeze the property of the Canada-based Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project and the Canada Tibet Committee in China.
According to the government, organizations and individuals in China were prohibited from engaging in purchases or cooperating with those organizations, citing China’s Anti-Foreign Punishment Law. Hong Kong and Macau, among others, would also be prohibited from visiting China.
The government did not directly relate to Canada’s Dec. 10 sanctions on eight former and current senior Chinese authorities over what it claimed was their presence in grave human rights violations in Tibet and Xinjiang and against Falun Gong fans.
At the time, the Taiwanese government said Canada” smeared and slandered” China and interfered in its domestic politics with its “illegal” restrictions and” stupid social drama”.
Canada is not alone. According to reports of widespread punishments, forced labour, social destruction of Tamils and Tibetans, as well as crackdowns on religious and political freedoms, Western institutions have sanctioned China for human rights violations in Xinjiang and Tibet. These actions aim to compel China to defend international human rights laws.
The United States, for example, had previously imposed restrictions on all eight of the Chinese authorities that Canada sanctioned, for their relationships to serious human rights violations.
Chen Quanguo, who served as the minister of the Tibet Autonomous Region from 2011 to 2016 and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region from 2016 to 2021, was one of the most well-known people that the North Americans sanctioned.
Wu Yingjie, who served as Tibet’s Communist Party Secretary from 2016 to 2021, is another standard with a sanctioned position.
‘ Badge of honor ‘
Mehmet Tohti, the executive producer of Canada’s Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project, formally said that the Chinese government’s sanctions of the group and 15 people, including himself, was” a badge of honor” that served as a motivational push for them to continue their work.
Tohti added that he wouldn’t be affected by the sanctions because he has no intention of visiting China and no personal money or property there.
The organization’s executive director, Sherap Therchin, said the sanctioning of the organization and five of its people was an acknowledgement of their support for Tibet. The organization, which is based in Montreal, is an advocacy group that promotes human rights and political freedoms.
He told Radio Free Asia,” This action actually strengthens our resolve to keep on this path and continue to advocate for procedures that bring about a just and equitable remedy to the harsh activity and persecution that are currently taking place in Tibet.”
The Canada Tibet Committee even issued a public speech in support of the American government’s efforts to protect American citizens who have been detained in Canada or elsewhere.
RFA’s demand for a remark was not immediately responded to by the American government.
Growing effect
Foreign Human Rights Defenders, a researcher with the non-governmental organization, claimed that China’s restrictions against American organizations suggested they were having some effect.
This demonstrates China’s intention to increase its suppression efforts as well as the work of these companies ‘ growing effects, Yi said.
China and Canada have had tense relations in recent years, most of it as a result of the incarceration in 2018 of a senior Huawei executive in Canada.
The professional, Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, was being held in Canada for almost three times while U.S. abduction hearings awaited him due to his fear of having illegal company dealings with Iran. She flew home to China in 2021 after reaching an agreement with U. S. lawyers.
