O’Toole Condemns Violence Against Asian-Canadians, Says CCP Doesn’t Represent Chinese Culture

Conservative Party Leader Erin O'Toole rises during question period in the House of Commons on March 10, 2021. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole condemned violence targeting Asian-Canadians across the country, adding that Chinese Canadians have faced a “double threat” by hate groups and foreign influence operations from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) taking place within Canada.

O'Toole, in a video message on Tuesday, urged Canadians and Conservatives to “defend our Asian neighbours against such despicable acts,” referring to hundreds of hate-related incidents toward Asian-Canadians since the outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

The CCP virus, which causes the COVID-19 disease, first emerged in China’s megalopolis of Wuhan, and the Chinese communist regime has been widely criticized for its deliberate cover up and allowing it to erupt into a global crisis.

“These attacks go against everything we stand for as Canadians—and they must end,” O'Toole reiterated in a statement.

He also said the CCP doesn’t represent the Chinese people.

“Chinese-Canadians bring an ancient and rich culture to Canada, and they are proud of it, and they should be,” O’Toole said in the video. “The communist regime does not represent the long, ancient, and incredible [Chinese] history of innovation, culture, and contributions to the world.”

https://twitter.com/erinotoole/status/1376912851982450690

He added that Chinese Canadians who left China for Canada came in search of freedom and opportunity.

“Canada’s Conservatives celebrate Chinese culture, history, values, and recognize the many contributions Chinese Canadians have made to our great country. Canadians can be proud of their Chinese ancestry and highlight the bad conduct of the Chinese Communist Party,” he said in the statement.

Investigations by independent researchers have revealed the CCP’s two ongoing “crimes against humanity,” targeting Uyghur Muslims and Falun Gong spiritual adherents.

A Council of Foreign relations report found that the CCP has significantly scaled up the detention facilities in Xinjiang since 2017, which have been used to incarcerate over a million Uyghurs and other ethnic Muslims. The report shows that victims have been subjected to sexual abuse, forced sterilizations, and forced labour.

In February, Canadian MPs voted passed a House of Commons motion that recognized China’s treatment of Uyghurs as a genocide.

The CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong have continued for over two decades. The mind and body cultivation, which is based on principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance, had attracted around 70 million to 100 million people in China by the late 1990s, according the Chinese official estimation.

Former CCP leader Jiang Zemin deemed the large number of Falun Gong adherents a threat to the communist regime in 1999 and subsequently launched an unprecedented campaign to eradicate the practice. Since then, Falun Gong practitioners have been targeted for arbitrary detention, tortured, rape, and organ harvesting.

Daksha Devnani contributed to this report