The federal government warned Canadian companies operating in and doing business with China of risks they face if their supply chains are involved in forced labour, citing credible reports of human rights abuses. Global Affairs Canada and the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service issued an advisory last week notifying Canadian firms of the legal and reputation risks of doing businesses with entities that are complicit in human rights violations and forced labour in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). “The Government of Canada is deeply concerned by reports and documentary evidence of repression of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities by Chinese authorities in the XUAR on the basis of their religion and ethnicity under the pretext of countering ‘terrorism’ and ‘religious extremism,’” the advisory states. The agencies noted that Chinese communist regime’s repression of ethnic and religious minorities takes place not just in Xinjiang, but across the entire country. On Jan. 19, then-U.S. Secretary of …
