Beijing backs ‘patriotic actions’ of Chinese students who reported Uygur activist in Canada

But embassy in Ottawa says the incident at McMaster University – as well as a separate case in Toronto – had nothing to do with Chinese officials

Students were infuriated Rukiye Turdush had been given a chance to deliver a speech on campus and sent video and photos to consulate

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China’s embassy in Ottawa said the two incidents at Canadian campuses this week had “nothing to do with the Chinese embassy and Chinese consulate general”. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 4:51pm, 16 Feb 2019Updated: 1:56am, 26 Dec 2021

Beijing backed the “patriotic actions” of Chinese students who reported a Uygur activist’s talk at a Canadian university to the consulate, but said they were not told to do so by officials.

“We strongly support the just and patriotic actions of the Chinese students,” the Chinese embassy in Ottawa said in a statement on Saturday.

“Safeguarding sovereignty and opposing separatism are the common position of the international community, and they are also the position that the Canadian government upholds,” it said.

“[But] what happened recently at the University of Toronto and McMaster University has nothing to do with the Chinese embassy and Chinese consulate general in Canada.”

Uygur activist Rukiye Turdush gave a talk at McMaster University in Ontario this week. Photo: Handout

Earlier this week, a group of Chinese students at McMaster University in Ontario were infuriated when they found out Rukiye Turdush – a Uygur woman they considered a separatist – had been given the opportunity to deliver a speech on campus about the mass internment of Muslims in the Xinjiang region, in China’s far west.

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