Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement that lithium production in China is based upon the malicious practice of ‘Slave labour’ while replying to media personals in a press conference.
The Canadian PM said that we have notable sources of Lithium present in Canada but producing the mineral by violating the other’s rights made China the biggest producer in the World.
He added in his statement that the Lithium produced in Canada would be more expensive than in China because we do not use Slave labour while asserting the human rights commitments while he was discussing the efforts of his country to increase the production of Lithium within Canada.
Trudeau said that his administration would try to cooperate with China on environmental issues, but China has become a disturbing power on global economic issues as per his estimation while condemning Chinese labour policy.
The question of Human rights will be contested by the Canadian administration whether it’s Xinjiang or Hong Kong or somewhere else the Prime Minister said referring to certain locations in China where they are accused of suppressing Independence through continuous repression.
Trudeau calling his allies urged that we are like-minded democracies and major economies in the world, we have to come together to tackle this moment and come up with a solution.
Trudeau also criticised Russia and applauded European nations for not relying upon Russian fuel sources. Canada has been one of the biggest critics of Russia from the beginning of the Ukraine-Russia war calling it unjustifiable aggression.
The Canadian PM while emphasising the Ukraine-Russia war said that it must come to an end. He added, “We know this doesn’t end militarily”, thus there must be a political resolution between the two nations.
Previous Slave labour allegations in China
The United States alleged that China uses forced labour in mining and construction activities. Subsequently, the US banned imports of products from China’s Xinjiang area on the speculation of forced labour in that area.
However, China denies all the allegations made to them about Xinjiang region which is a major cotton production area and most parts of solar panels are also supplied by this region.
In December 2022 the United Auto Workers union urged the automakers to shift their supply from China’s Xinjiang to other sources after a report from Britain’s Sheffield Hallam University proclaimed that almost every automaker has exposure to the products made out of forced labour.
The US labour department in a recent report also said that China owns, operates or finance maximum of the Congo’s Republic cobalt mines.
The tension between Canadian and China diplomatic relations runs after Meng Wanzhou, Executive of Huawei Technologies was detained in 2018 and two Canadians were arrested in China on spying charges.
Furthermore, Canada has also accused China of interfering in the elections and establishing remote police stations in Canada said the foreign minister.
In November 2022 Canadian government ordered 3 Chinese companies to evict from Canadian critical mineral fields referring to national security. However, in response to the allegations, China accused Canada of divesting Chinese companies breaking the international market rules and said that Canada is using ‘national security’ as an excuse to evict Chinese companies.
