Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says there is a fundamental difference between CanadaB次元官网网址檚 troubled relationship with Indigenous Peoples, and ChinaB次元官网网址檚 systemic abuse and human rights violations against ethnic Muslim Uyghurs.

Trudeau says Canada knows its relationship with Indigenous Peoples is broken but it had a Truth and Reconciliation Commission and is working to try and address the issues.

China, he says, isnB次元官网网址檛 even willing to admit there is a problem.

B次元官网网址淲here is ChinaB次元官网网址檚 Truth and Reconciliation Commission?B次元官网网址� Trudeau asked at a news conference outside his Ottawa home Tuesday.

B次元官网网址淲here is their truth? Where is the openness that Canada has always shown, and the responsibility that Canada has taken for the terrible mistakes of the past, and indeed, many of which continue into the present?B次元官网网址�

His comments came shortly after a diplomatic showdown between Canada and China at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Switzerland Tuesday.

CanadaB次元官网网址檚 ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Leslie Norton, read a statement on behalf of 44 countries urging China to allow B次元官网网址渋mmediate, meaningful and unfettered accessB次元官网网址� so independent observers can visit its western Xinjiang region.

At the same meeting Chinese envoy Jiang Duan demanded Canada stop its violations of human rights in its own backyard.

B次元官网网址淲e urge Canada to immediately stop violations of human rights,B次元官网网址� he said, adding that UN bodies should B次元官网网址渒eep following the human rights issues in Canada.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淐anada has also repeatedly used human rights as an instrument to promote its political agenda,B次元官网网址� Jiang said.

He criticized CanadaB次元官网网址檚 past mistreatment of Indigenous Peoples and the recent discovery of the remains of more than 200 children at an Indigenous residential school in Canada. He called for a B次元官网网址渢horough and impartial investigationB次元官网网址� into cases of crimes against Indigenous Peoples and faulted racism and xenophobia in Canada.

ChinaB次元官网网址檚 statement about Canada came with the support of Russia, Belarus, North Korea, Iran and Syria, mainly countries with whom CanadaB次元官网网址檚 relationship is strained, if there is one at all.

CanadaB次元官网网址檚 statement had the backing of 44 countries on five continents, though the list is dominated by North American and European allies.

B次元官网网址淲e are gravely concerned about the human rights situation in the Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region,B次元官网网址� Norton said, in a statement backed by 43 other countries.

She cited credible reports of arbitrary detention and widespread surveillance, as well as B次元官网网址渢orture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, forced sterilization, sexual and gender-based violence, and forced separation of children from their parents by authorities.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淲e urge China to allow immediate, meaningful and unfettered access to Xinjiang for independent observers, including the High Commissioner, and to urgently implement the Committee on the Elimination of Racial DiscriminationB次元官网网址檚 8 recommendations related to Xinjiang, including by ending the arbitrary detention of Uyghurs and members of other Muslim minorities.B次元官网网址�

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has been trying since the start of her tenure in 2018 to arrange a visit to Xinjiang and she said Monday she hoped to carry one out by yearB次元官网网址檚 end.

Norton acknowledged to the meeting Canada has B次元官网网址渉istorically denied the rights of Indigenous peoples through assimilationist policies and practices.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淲e know that the world expects Canada to adhere to international human rights standards,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淲e, too, expect no less of ourselves.B次元官网网址�

Trudeau said Canada has been making attempts to do so through a long journey towards reconciliation.

B次元官网网址淐hina is not recognizing even that there is a problem,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淭hat is a pretty fundamental difference. And that is why Canadians and people from around the world are speaking up for people like the Uyghurs who find themselves voiceless, faced with a government that will not recognize whatB次元官网网址檚 happening to them.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址擬ia Rabson, The Canadian Press