NBA star and human rights activist Enes Kanter Freedom says he is disappointed by what he calls Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s weak response to his calls for more action to help China’s Uyghur Muslims.
The basketball player, who is currently a free agent after being cut by the Houston Rockets earlier this year, said he wrote to Trudeau last month to encourage the Liberal government to take a tougher stance on China at a time when the country alleged to be committing genocide against the Turkic minority in the country’s Xinjiang province.
He said all he got in response was a form from someone in the correspondence department and he felt neglected.
In an interview with CBC News, Canter Freedom said he doesn’t think his letter actually got into Trudeau’s hands.
“The response I received doesn’t really address any of the specific issues I raised. I know if he had actually read it, I would have gotten a more thoughtful response,” he said.
“He cares. I believe he cares about human rights not only in Canada but around the world. If he has a heart, there’s no way he won’t answer me.”
Cantor Freedom said it is partnering with senior leaders of the US Congress and senior European Union officials in its fight against human rights abuses in China, but so far there has been no strong response from the Canadian government.
He said the decision by Trudeau and his cabinet ministers to abstain on a House of Commons motion last year formally declaring the horrors in China genocide was another disappointment.
“Canada stands for freedom, democracy and human rights and yet it takes no real action against China. There is genocide and the whole world knows it, just condemning it is not enough,” said Canter Freedom.
“Justin Trudeau, put yourself in these people’s shoes. If your wife was in a concentration camp, do you really think the status quo is enough? It’s really unacceptable,” he said.
Diplomatic boycott will not save lives: Enes Kanter
Kanter Freedom was honored by Republican leaders in Washington last month, with some crediting him for advocating for the passage of a new US law that effectively bans imports from Xinjiang, where Uyghur slave labor is said to be widespread.
This US law, which Kanter Freedom supports with support from both Democrats and Republicans, bans imports from Xinjiang unless people or companies can prove that the goods or materials were produced without slave labor. US President Joe Biden signed the bill into law in December.
In its June 15 letter to Trudeau, Canter Freedom called on the Canadian government to take similar action against imports from Xinjiang.
He said Canada and the U.S. are economic powerhouses and if they act together to ban goods from the troubled region, it could force major companies such as Nike, which once had part of its supply chain in Xinjiang, to rethink its business with China.
Kanter Freedom, left, participates in a news conference with Sen. Leo Housakos, right, in June, calling on the Canadian government to ban the import of goods made with forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. (Fred Chartrand/The Canadian Press)
At the very least, Canter Freedom said, Trudeau should do something significant to signal that Canada will not tolerate China’s abuses, which are alleged to include torture, rape, forced sterilizations and abortions, state surveillance and the internment of Muslims minorities in concentration camps in the country’s northwestern province.
“This is genocide. That’s how I would explain it. The situation is really bad and a diplomatic boycott – it will not save lives,” Enes Kanter said, adding that China cares most about money.
He called on Trudeau to accept Conservative Sen. Leo Housakos’ Senate bill as government policy that goes a step further than what was passed through Congress south of the border.
If passed, S-204 would ban the importation of all goods manufactured or manufactured in whole or in part in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
Kanter Freedom said the bill would stop Canada from “inadvertently funding Uyghur forced labor and human rights abuses by the Chinese Communist Party.”
The US State Department said Chinese authorities used threats of physical violence, “forced drug administration”, physical and sexual abuse and torture to force mostly Muslim detainees to work in factories producing clothing, shoes, carpets, yarn, food products, holiday decorations, building materials, solar energy equipment, consumer electronics, bedding, cleaning products, face masks, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and other goods.
According to US estimates, more than one million Muslims, including Uighurs, ethnic Hui, ethnic Kazakhs, ethnic Kyrgyz, ethnic Tajiks, and ethnic Uzbeks, have been imprisoned in state-run internment camps, where forced labor is a primary tactic used for repression.
This photo taken on June 4, 2019 shows the Chinese flag behind barbed wire at a residential complex in Yangisar, south of Kashgar, in western China’s Xinjiang region. – A repeat of the Urumqi riots that left nearly 200 dead a decade ago is hard to imagine in today’s Xinjiang, a Chinese region whose Uyghur minority is subject to surveillance and mass detentions. (Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images)
Most private members’ bills — introduced by individuals, not the government — do not receive ministerial support, parliamentary time, or go through all the parliamentary stages necessary to become law.
With Trudeau’s support, S-204 will have a fighting chance, Canter Freedom said.
In response to his call for action, a manager from the Prime Minister’s Office of Correspondence told Kanter Freedom in a June 25 letter that the government is “deeply concerned by the appalling reports of human rights abuses” in China and it is “advancing measures to address the risk of forced labor from any country.”
Kanter Freedom said the response, which was three paragraphs long, read like copy-and-paste — pre-written lines used to answer general questions about China.
The Prime Minister’s Office referred questions about the Kanter Freedom letter to Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly.
Forced Labor Bill
In a statement, a Joly spokesman said the government “thanks Mr. Kanter Freedom for his work and advocacy on this issue.”
“Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Rob Oliphant met with Mr. Canter Freedom in Ottawa on June 6, 2022 to discuss human rights in Xinjiang. PS Oliphant reiterated that the Government of Canada takes all allegations of genocide extremely seriously and we remain deeply disturbed by reports of human rights abuses in Xinjiang, including the use of arbitrary detention, political re-education, forced labour, torture and forced sterilization.”
The spokesman said the government had already imposed sanctions on four Chinese officials and one entity for their involvement in “gross and systematic human rights violations in Xinjiang” and had repeatedly called on the Chinese government to grant UN officials “unimpeded and meaningful access to Xinjiang’. .”
While the government was cool with Kanter Freedom and Housakos’ proposed Xinjiang import ban, Labor Minister Seamus O’Regan said the government was concerned about forced labor around the world – and was ready to take steps to tackle it.
Last month, O’Regan said he would support a bill from Independent Que. Senator Julie Mieville-Deshon, which forces Canadian companies to certify that none of their products or components are made in sweatshops that employ children or by people forced to work excessive hours for free or for little pay.
Cantor Freedom said he became a China hawk because he was sick of what happened to his fellow Muslims in that country.
He said his advocacy was probably to blame for his stalled basketball career. He was cut after his sharp criticism sparked controversy in China, which is home to tens of millions of NBA fans – a cash cow for the league and its owners.
“I love the game and I’m not thinking about retirement, but I won’t rest knowing that on the other side of the ocean, millions of people are losing their loved ones. It’s bigger than me, bigger than the NBA or basketball and bigger than my next paycheck,” he said.
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