China slammed Canadian PM Justin Trudeau’s “baseless” remarks regarding China’s human rights situation during his visit to the US.
China’s Criticism
The Chinese Embassy in Canada said in a statement that Trudeau had “maliciously slandered” China’s human rights situation by alluding to the country’s use of “slave labour” in its lithium mines.
“This is completely ignoring facts and distorting black and white. China expresses its strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to this,” the statement said. It further alleged that “slave labour” and “forced labour” does not exist in China, but does exist in Western countries, such as the US and Canada.
The Chinese Embassy in Canada expressed strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's malicious slander over China's human rights record during his visit to the US, stressing that so-called forced labor does not exist in China, but exists… pic.twitter.com/2SCvBSpy7G
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) May 1, 2023
It cited data from unnamed “American academic institutions,” which show that at least 500,000 people in the US are “currently living under modern slavery and forced to work,” and that the situation in Canada is “no different.”
The embassy also accused Trudeau of “engaging in political manipulation and economic bullying under the guise of human rights in an attempt to undermine China’s prosperity and…contain China’s development.”
It urged Canada to “respect facts, abandon prejudice, and stop maliciously slandering China’s human rights situation,” warning that failing to do so will result in “consequences.”
Trudeau’s Remarks
Backlash from China comes after the Canadian PM said at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Friday that “the lithium produced in Canada is going to be more expensive. Because we don’t use slave labour.”
“Because we put forward environmental responsibility as something we actually expect to be abided by. Because we count on working with, in partnership, with indigenous peoples, paying their living wages, expecting security and safety standards,” the Canadian leader added.