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China has been accused Canada of hypocrisy for criticizing Beijing’s human rights record, pointing to problems facing Indigenous Nations.
The blow comes after Ottawa sanctioned eight Chinese officials it accused of “gross human rights violations” against ethnic and religious minorities, and expressed concerns about democracy in Hong Kong.
Ottawa issued a statement last month citing reports of arbitrary and violent detention of Uyghur people, such as oppression against Tibetans and Falun Gong practitioners.
Global Affairs Canada also says it “regrets” that authorities are issuing international bounties for Hong Kong democracy activists and former lawmakers from the territory, including Canadians.
Beijing says these claims are baseless and it has sanctioned groups and activists in Canada who advocate for minorities in China, barring citizens from certain interactions with these activists.
Since then, China’s state media has repeatedly called out Canada over its treatment of indigenous peoples, claiming Ottawa is hypocritical.
“Canada is in no position to teach others about human rights,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said at a Dec. 11 press conference, according to an official translation.
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“Even today, Canada’s Indigenous people still face systemic racial discrimination and unfair treatment. Instead of dealing with it, Canada chooses to smear and shame other countries.
Mao added that “China has achieved tremendous progress in human rights” that “no one can deny without bias.”
A day later, she added that “the whole thing is an ugly, hypocritical political stunt by some Canadian political figures under the pretext of human rights, to serve an unspeakable agenda and to please the US”
China’s embassy in Ottawa has reinforced these messages on social media, including a political cartoon from state-run media outlet CGTN showing a beaver with a shredded house telling a panda with an unblemished house that something has cracked .
“Canada turns a blind eye to the systematic racism and unfair treatment faced by indigenous people, but fabricates accusations and trashes China’s human rights progress,” the cartoon caption says. “The constant political manipulation over human rights issues is nothing more than a hypocritical farce of double standards.”
In a recurring assessment of human rights issues in Canada, the United Nations noted that progress had been made in Indigenous rights and housing, while urging that more be done.
The November 2023 review called on Canadian governments to end human rights abuses by Canadian mining corporations abroad and the overrepresentation of minorities in prison and child welfare. It also asked Canada to better respect the rights of Indigenous peoples to free, prior and informed consent.
The same body’s assessment of China in January 2024 noted that the country had improved its policies on women and children, but urged the government to “ensure that all detainees are formally held accountable, have access to their families and are held in officially recognized places of detention.”
It urged China to “respect the rights to freedom of religion or belief, opinion and expression, peaceful assembly and culture, including for Tibetans, Uyghurs, and other minorities” and said that anti-terrorism laws are not “consistent with international law and human rights standards” “, including in Hong Kong.
& copy 2025 The Canadian Press
