Uyghur group withdraws from Canada’s election interference Commission

Vancouver, Canada - A group from Canada's Uyghur community has withdrawn from a commission investigating allegations that China and other countries are interfering in the country's elections.

As the first round of hearings wrapped up on Friday, the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project announced that it was pulling out of the commission. The group says it withdrew because of its concern that two politicians with alleged sympathies to China have been given full status in the review body.

The organization, also known as URAP, identifies them as independent Member of Parliament Han Dong and the now deputy mayor of Markham, Ontario, Michael Chan. Both have repeatedly denied any ties to the Chinese government.

Miri Teich, the Uyghur organization's policy and advocacy director, said the politicians are too tightly aligned in their public comments to the Chinese Communist Party, or CCP.

'These are individuals that parrot the same talking points as the CCP in terms of denial of the Uyghur genocide and abstaining from all sorts of votes related to the Uyghurs,' Teich said.

Teich said if the two remain as members of the commission, it will give them access to evidence and the ability to cross examine Uyghur witnesses, which they do not want to happen.

'On principle, we don't want to participate in an inquiry that is empowering individuals like that - particularly if they have the ability to cross examine witnesses,' she said.

They also are concerned that Senator Yuen Pau Woo has been granted the status of intervenor with the commission which allows him to make any submissions in writing, but not automatically cross-examine any witness or get advance look at any evidence.

In an interview with VOA, Senator Woo pushed back against the allegations.

'The ability and willingness of this group to make grave allegations against me and others with no evidence is precisely the kind of risk that an overzealous foreign interference inquiry could lead to,' he said.

He said the Uyghurs do not want him to take part in the commission because they do not like his views. In the past, Woo has said Canada is not in a position to criticize China because of treatment towards its indigenous First Nations. He has also opposed efforts to declare what is happening in Xinjiang as 'genocide.'

Woo said repeatedly he hopes the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project reconsiders and again participates in the commission. He also hopes the commission stops any stigmatization of individuals who have been wrongfully accused.

'The allegations they have made, have reinforced my conviction that I need to be part of this inquiry, and to alert the commission and to Canadians of the serious risk of stigmatization of the sort that they have inflicted on me and on to other former politicians,' he said.

VOA reached out to Dong and Chan for their reaction to URAP's decision and their allegations, but neither responded.

Both have vehemently denied allegations they are tied to the Chinese government in any form.