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Saturday, May 04, 2024
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Canadians lashed on visa plan and genocide move
Canadian politicians and media have smeared China and misled people about Hong Kong, Xinjiang and the Winter Olympics, Beijing's embassy in Ottawa claimed in a weekend broadside .
An embassy spokesman said it was alleged wrongly that the national security law trampled on democracy in Hong Kong, and anyway the SAR was an internal matter and did not warrant foreign interference.
This came after Canada launched a scheme to make it easier for Hongkongers to work in the country for up to three years.
Canadians were also told to remove their "colored lenses" and look at China more objectively in a statement from the embassy.
Hong Kong was the hottest subject, with the embassy claiming that besides the wrongful allegation that the national security law was eroding democracy in the SAR was the false claim that the rights of 300,000 Canadians in Hong Kong were not protected.
"I want to point out that China is a country under the rule of law and Hong Kong affairs are purely China's internal affairs," the spokesman said.
"The national security law helps to plug the loophole of Hong Kong's law and protects the safety of the majority of Hong Kong residents," he added.
"It also brings significant benefits to maintaining the good business environment and improving Hong Kong's status as an international financial, trade and shipping center."
The spokesman claimed too that "genocide" and "forced labor" in Xinjiang were outright lies "concocted by politicians, media and scholars in Canada, the United States, Australia and other countries."
The rights and interests of Xinjiang's minority workers were protected under the law and they have the freedom to choose their occupations, it was argued. The blistering statement came after Canada's parliament passed a motion last week to recognize that China's treatment of the Uygur Muslim minority in Xinjiang constituted genocide.
Canadian lawmakers also urged their government to press the International Olympic Committee to relocate the Winter Olympics from Beijing if the genocide continued.
On that, the embassy statement argued that politicizing sports is against the spirit of the Olympic charter.
In Hong Kong, meanwhile, Jeff Nankivell, Canada's consul-general in the SAR, said his country does not expect Beijing will retaliate over work permits for Hongkongers launched on February 8.
The program allows Hong Kong residents who graduated with a post-secondary degree or diploma no more than five years before an application went in to seek a three-year work permit.
Nankivell also expressed a concern that consulates in Hong Kong were denied access to dual nationality-prisoners in Hong Kong.
This came after Canada launched a scheme to make it easier for Hongkongers to work in the country for up to three years.
Canadians were also told to remove their "colored lenses" and look at China more objectively in a statement from the embassy.
Hong Kong was the hottest subject, with the embassy claiming that besides the wrongful allegation that the national security law was eroding democracy in the SAR was the false claim that the rights of 300,000 Canadians in Hong Kong were not protected.
"I want to point out that China is a country under the rule of law and Hong Kong affairs are purely China's internal affairs," the spokesman said.
"The national security law helps to plug the loophole of Hong Kong's law and protects the safety of the majority of Hong Kong residents," he added.
"It also brings significant benefits to maintaining the good business environment and improving Hong Kong's status as an international financial, trade and shipping center."
The spokesman claimed too that "genocide" and "forced labor" in Xinjiang were outright lies "concocted by politicians, media and scholars in Canada, the United States, Australia and other countries."
The rights and interests of Xinjiang's minority workers were protected under the law and they have the freedom to choose their occupations, it was argued. The blistering statement came after Canada's parliament passed a motion last week to recognize that China's treatment of the Uygur Muslim minority in Xinjiang constituted genocide.
Canadian lawmakers also urged their government to press the International Olympic Committee to relocate the Winter Olympics from Beijing if the genocide continued.
On that, the embassy statement argued that politicizing sports is against the spirit of the Olympic charter.
In Hong Kong, meanwhile, Jeff Nankivell, Canada's consul-general in the SAR, said his country does not expect Beijing will retaliate over work permits for Hongkongers launched on February 8.
The program allows Hong Kong residents who graduated with a post-secondary degree or diploma no more than five years before an application went in to seek a three-year work permit.
Nankivell also expressed a concern that consulates in Hong Kong were denied access to dual nationality-prisoners in Hong Kong.
