OFWI & the China Rights Network outline a human rights agenda for Prime Minister Trudeau's upcoming official visit to China and G20 summit.

Toronto – One Free World International and the China Rights Network have called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stand up for Canadian values on his upcoming official visit to China. He can do this by rebuking Chinese government attacks on Canadian sovereignty, resolving the consular cases of Kevin Garratt and Hussein Celil, and balancing trade negotiations with respect for human rights.

You can watch the video of the press conference by clicking here.

You can read Canoe.com's coverage of the conference by clicking here.

Recent attacks against Chinese human rights activists on Canadian soil have yielded little response from the government. If they do not take a stand against these flagrant violations of Canadian sovereignty, the door is open to more Chinese state-led attacks against the rights of Canadian citizens.

“China does not stand for human rights, and they do not stand for freedom of speech. Now they are silencing Chinese human rights activists on Canadian soil, and the government isn’t doing anything about it. This is fundamentally anti-Canadian,” says Majed El Shafie, President and Founder of OFWI.

In June, the Chinese Foreign Minister lambasted a Canadian journalist for asking questions on human rights in China; Minister Dion sat idly by as the Chinese minister scolded the Canadian journalist. Chinese-Canadian human rights activist, Xue Sheng, was hacked with her private files manipulated and distributed widely across the Internet in an attempt to discredit her; Minister Goodale has remained silent on this issue. Canadians Huseyin Celil, Kevin Garratt, and countless others remain wrongfully imprisoned in China; The Prime Minister has done little to secure their release. Canadians demand that their government stands up for the Canadian values of free speech and equality for all, rather than the Chinese values of silencing free speech and the repression of minority groups.

The media availability featured six members of the China Rights Network:

• Rev. Majed El Shafie, President and Founder, One Free World International
• Sheng Xue, President, Federation for a Democratic China; Writer & Journalist
• Rev. Michael Stainton, President, Taiwanese Human Rights Association of Canada
• Mehmet Tohti, human rights activist, Uyghur community representative
• Guru Dorjee, human rights activist, Tibetan community representative
• Paul Zhou, human rights activist, Falun Gong community representative