(Minghui.org) Before Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau's trip to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Vietnam, several lawmakers urged him to bring up Falun Gong while meeting with Chinese leaders, in particular to request the release of detained Canadian, Su Qian, who was arrested in China for her belief in Falun Gong in February 2017.
Sun is a China-born businesswoman who immigrated to Canada as an investor and became a Canadian citizen. She founded the Beijing Leadman Biochemistry company and was on the Hurun Report’s list of China’s top wealthiest people from 2012 to 2016. She began practicing the Falun Dafa self-improvement and meditation discipline in 2014, which helped her recover from chronic health problems.
Former Chair of Parliament Human Rights Committee Urges Trudeau to Help
Conservative MP Scott Reid in the foyer outside the House of Commons on Nov. 7, 2017.
Conservative MP Scott Reid recently wrote a letter to Trudeau asking him to raise the issue with Chinese leader Xi Jinping during the APEC summit in Vietnam, following a “tradition” where Reid made a similar request when then-Prime Minister Jean Chrétien attended APEC 15 years ago.
Back then, Reid introduced a parliamentary motion asking Chrétien to call for the release of about a dozen imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners, who had relatives in Canada when he met with the Chinese leadership during that year’s APEC summit. The motion passed with unanimous support.
As the then-chair of the Human Rights Committee, Reid has supported a resolution that condemns state-sanctioned organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners in China.
Former Minister of Justice: Promoting Trade Must Not Be at the Expense of Human Rights
Former Liberal MP and Minister of Justice Irwin Cotler.
Irwin Cotler, a former Liberal MP and Minister of Justice, says it’s important that the Chinese authorities realize they cannot violate the rights of a Canadian citizen with impunity.
“I think that the prime minister has expressed, himself, that there’s no contradiction between pursuing trade and protecting human rights, and this is a case study of how we can go to a conference and promote trade, but not at the expense of human rights,” he said.
Conservative MP: “Trudeau Should Raise Canada’s Legitimate Concerns”
Peter Kent, a Conservative MP and former Environment Minister, said Trudeau should make a point of raising Canada’s concerns about the detention of Sun and other Falun Dafa adherents.
“We know that with regards to [Sun], she has been detained, she has suffered what can be properly characterized as torture, mistreatment,” Kent said.
“I think the prime minister should make a point of raising Canada’s legitimate concerns, not only about this single case, but about the infringement of the rights of other Chinese Canadians, or of the families of Chinese Canadians, who are being persecuted merely for their beliefs,” he said.
Green Party Leader: Strong Support for Falun Gong on All Sides of the House
Green Party leader Elizabeth May also expressed hope that the prime minister can pursue diplomatic means to ensure Sun is released.
“The treatment of practitioners of Falun Dafa, or Falun Gong, is an egregious violation of human rights and rights of religious freedom, rights to speak freely, and most of the MPs in the Parliament—I know whenever I raise the issue, we have a lot of support on all sides of the House,” she said.
NDP MP Hélène Laverdière agreed that Trudeau should raise the issue of human rights during APEC, including all “consular cases.”
“I think it will be very important for him to raise human rights concerns,” she said.
