Thank you, Madam Speaker. My speech is relevant to what we are debating today, and I would ask my colleague to be a bit patient. We will get there.
As a loyal friend with a long-standing interest in the long-term prosperity and well-being of the people of Hong Kong, Canada will continue to work with its foreign partners to persuade China to respect its international obligations in relation to Hong Kong.
Canada has called on China to respect, protect and promote freedom of expression, assembly and association, as well as freedom of religion or belief, for all individuals. The restrictions of these freedoms for Tibetans living in China as well as the destruction of historic buildings and temples are cause for great concern. Canadian officials regularly discuss concerns regarding the treatment of Tibetans in China, and in Canada with our Chinese counterparts.
As I said at the beginning, the Government of Canada is gravely concerned about the human rights situation affecting Uighurs and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang. I would like to acknowledge the work by the Subcommittee on International Human Rights on the human rights of the Uighurs, including the brave testimony from survivors and civil society representatives on this issue.
We have already been very clear: Canada takes allegations of genocide very seriously and I take these allegations very seriously. This includes testimony from survivors, leaked government documents, and credible allegations and reports of mass arbitrary detention, repressive surveillance, forced labour, forced sterilization, torture and other mistreatments affecting Uighurs and other ethnic minorities.
As I have repeatedly stated, China must provide unfettered access to the region without delay. We continue to call for an international investigation in response to serious and deeply concerning allegations of genocide. Regardless of whether that access is provided, the international community has to work together in order to investigate the egregious human rights abuses taking place in Xinjiang. It is clear from the available evidence that serious and credible human rights violations are occurring in Xinjiang. The nature and scale of these abuses are alarming.
That is why this government has taken and will continue to take action. We will do this with single-mindedness working with our international partners. We have raised these issues bilaterally with the Chinese government at all levels. Canada has also raised on numerous occasions the specific human rights situation in Xinjiang. In October 2020, Canada, along with 39 other countries at the U.N., expressed its grave concerns regarding the situation in Xinjiang.
On January 12, we announced that the Government of Canada is adopting a comprehensive approach to addressing human rights abuses in Xinjiang, including measures to address forced labour. We announced a robust suite of measures that have placed Canada at the forefront of the global response to human rights concerns in Xinjiang, including the prohibition of imports into Canada of goods made in whole or in part with forced labour, and a business integrity declaration for Canadian exporters.
Global Affairs Canada will continue to work closely with Canadian firms doing business in or with China to make sure that their officials understand and mitigate the risks of doing business with entities possibly implicated in forced labour. We will also continue to work with our international partners and raise our concerns about the human rights situation in Xinjiang, and to call on China to live up to its international obligations.
In closing, I would like to emphasize that we must and we will continue to coexist with China. We will compete with China, using our innovative businesses, people and abundant resources. We will co-operate on global challenges like climate change, and we will challenge China when human rights are being violated.
As the ground beneath us shifts, this government will continue to evolve its approach to China. As we do, we will always put the safety and security of Canadians first and be firmly guided by our interests, our fundamental values and principles, as well as global rules and strategic partnerships.