Prime Minister Mark Carney says forced labour is a “global issue” and that “parts of China” are a higher risk for it, when asked whether he believes the practice is happening there.
The questions from reporters came as Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne is set to head to China this week, and after Liberal MP Michael Ma apologized last week for comments he made in committee to a witness that appeared to cast doubt on reported human rights abuses.
“I followed this issue over the years, in China and elsewhere, and there is evidence of child labour around the world. There’s existence, I should say, of child labour and forced labour around the world,” Carney said at a homebuilding announcement Monday.
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“We recognize that this is a global issue that we need to be vigilant on and not assume that … it’s not an issue in certain countries, including in certain developed countries,” he said.
Carney was pressed several times by reporters on the matter.
However, Carney stated that “there are parts of China that are higher risk and therefore need to be diligent.”
Earlier this year, United Nations experts said that “there is a persistent pattern of alleged State-imposed forced labour involving ethnic minorities across multiple provinces in China.”
“In many cases, the coercive elements are so severe that they may amount to forcible transfer and/or enslavement as a crime against humanity,” the special rapporteurs and independent experts said.
China has repeatedly rejected claims of forced labour.
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