Canadian Rights Advocates Latest Targets of Beijing’s Sanctions

Protesters against China's abuse of Uyghur Muslims gather outside the Parliament buildings in Ottawa on Feb. 22, 2021, as MPs vote on a motion calling on Canada to recognize China's actions against the ethnic minority as genocide. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

The Chinese regime has sanctioned 20 Canadian human rights advocates and two organizations that support persecuted Tibetans and Uyghurs in China.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the sanctions on Dec. 21 under its Anti–Foreign Sanctions Law against two human rights advocacy groups—the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project (URAP) and the Canada-Tibet Committee—along with 20 individuals linked to these organizations.

The move is in response to Canada’s recent sanctions targeting eight senior current and former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said at a Dec. 23 press conference. These CCP officials had already been sanctioned by the U.S. government for their involvement in human rights crimes against minority groups, including Uyghurs, Tibetans, and Falun Gong practitioners.

The Beijing regime’s sanctions have drawn criticism, including from MP Michael Chong, the Conservatives’ foreign affairs critic, who himself was targeted for sanctions by the CCP in 2021.

“Conservatives condemn the sanctioning by the PRC [People’s Republic of China] of 20 Canadians simply for calling out Beijing’s human rights violations and transnational repression against Tibetans and Uyghurs,” Chong wrote in a Dec. 22 post on the social media platform X.

“Sanctioning people simply for speaking up is a sign of weakness.”

Former Conservative leader Erin O'Toole said the sanctions are the CCP’s attempt to “silence critics far beyond their shores,” after eradicating dissent within its controlled territory, such as Hong Kong.

“Canada must remain an ally to liberty and stand firmly behind these citizens and our values,” he wrote in an X post on Dec. 22.

The Epoch Times contacted both Global Affairs Canada and the Prime Minister’s Office for comment on the sanctions but did not receive a response by publication time.

In February 2021, MPs voted unanimously in favour of a motion to label the CCP’s arbitrary incarceration and abuse of an estimated 1 to 3 million Uyghurs as genocide.

Demonstrators participate in a rally to commemorate the failed 1959 Tibetan uprising against China's rule, outside of the Chinese Embassy in Washington on March 10, 2023. The gathering took place on what is known as Tibetan National Uprising Day. AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

In sanctioning the CCP officials, Ottawa highlighted the regime’s use of forced labour; psychological, physical, and sexual violence; arbitrary detention; and restrictions on basic human rights against Tibetans and Falun Gong practitioners.

“Canada is deeply concerned by the human rights violations in Xinjiang and Tibet and against those who practise Falun Gong. We call on the Chinese government to put an end to this systematic campaign of repression and uphold its international human rights obligations,” Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said in a press release.

‘Badge of Honour’

Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, policy adviser for URAP and a senior fellow at the University of Ottawa, said in an X post about Beijing’s sanctions: “I’m sanctioned — finally! It’s not as good as a bounty but it’s a badge of honour.”

McCuaig-Johnston told The Epoch Times that she is proud to be among those sanctioned due to her support for Uyghurs and Tibetans, and said she looks forward to increasing her engagement on these human rights issues in the years ahead.

“The sanctions demonstrate that we are indeed having an international impact so they are trying to shut us down. Instead, we are even more focussed on bringing Beijing’s repression of its own citizens to light,” she said.

When asked why Beijing didn’t target Canadian officials instead of human rights groups and advocates, McCuaig-Johnston said sanctioning officials would be seen internationally as a major escalation of China’s aggression.

“Instead, in retaliation for Canada’s sanctions against those officials repressing the Uyghurs, Beijing has targeted those civilian Canadians who are working to stop that repression,” she said.

Mehmet Tohti, executive director of URAP, expressed pride in the group’s work that triggered the Chinese regime’s move to sanction him, his staff, and the advisory board.

“It seems that our work here in Canada resonated strongly with [Chinese leader] Xi Jinping’s Beijing. We continue to shake CCP up,” Tohti wrote in a post on X.

“Sanction doesn’t work as I am literally under CCP sanction since 34 years.”

Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project executive director Mehmet Tohti speaks during a news conference in Ottawa on Feb. 1, 2023. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld

The Canada-Tibet Committee said in a statement that the sanctions are just a “formalization” of a long-standing practice of denying Tibetans outside China access to their homeland and families.

“This move actually strengthens our resolve to keep on this path and continue to advocate for policies that bring about a just and equitable solution to the harsh occupation and repression now ongoing in Tibet,” the organization said.

US Sanctions

Several of the CCP officials sanctioned by Ottawa have already been sanctioned by the U.S. government.

In 2022, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Wu Yingjie for enforcing the CCP’s “stability policies” aimed at exerting control over Tibetan minorities. These policies involved extrajudicial killings, mass detention, physical abuse, and forced sterilizations and abortions.

Zhang Hongbo, the former director of the Tibetan Public Security Bureau, was also sanctioned at the same time for his role in running detention centres in Tibet that enforced the policies.

Liujun Huo, the former Party Secretary of the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau, was sanctioned in 2020. He was involved in the CCP’s surveillance and mass detention of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.

Peng Jiarui, who served as commander of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps—a state-enterprise and paramilitary organization involved in the use of forced labour—was also sanctioned.

Chen Quanguo, former Communist Party Secretary of Xinjiang, was sanctioned by the U.S. government on July 2020 for his involvement in “serious human rights abuses.” Chen was also known for his “notorious history of intensifying security operations” in Tibet, where he had tightened control over members of the Tibetan ethnic minority before being assigned to Xinjiang, according to the U.S. Department of Treasury.

You Qian, former Head of the CCP’s United Front Work Department and vice chairman of the Central Leading Group on Hong Kong and Macau Affairs, played a key role in drafting the Hong Kong National Security Law, which significantly undermines the city’s autonomy. He was sanctioned by the U.S. government in 2021.