It also accused the Chinese administration to put pressure on police, courts and prosecutors to "deliver swift and harsh punishment" on grounds of terrorism, causing several people sent to jail without committing any genuine offence.

"We've got to walk the talk", said Liberal MP Sameer Zuberi, one of the Liberal MPs who voted with Conservative, NDP, Bloc Québécois and Green politicians to pass the House of Commons motion Monday 266 to zero. The Conservatives sponsored the motion.

Canada's House of Commons voted unanimously in favour Monday of a Conservative motion declaring as genocide the atrocities committed against ethnic Muslim Uighurs in China's Xinjiang province. "There's nothing like genocide happening in Xinjiang at all".

Beijing has hit back at accusations it has engaged in genocide in Xinjiang - labelling this "fabricated out of ignorance and prejudice". "This is the lie of the century made up by extremely anti-China forces", said Wang Webin, according to a translation of his remarks provided by the foreign ministry.

There have always been reports gathered by journalists and global human rights advocates exposing instances of state surveillance, mass rape, forced labour, sterilization, and torture at China's "re-education" camps for Uighurs. As more information has emerged over the past several years, states, particularly in the West, have publicly condemned Beijing's actions, with some kickstarting a panoply of initiatives meant to hold Chinese authorities accountable.

Mr. Wang suggested that those alleging systemic abuse of Muslim minorities might not have all the facts.

"We are very preoccupied with the reports that have come out of China with respect to the treatment of Uyghurs", replied Minister Garneau.

"I have not heard of any working group or investigation" into the matter, he said.

"Canada's attempt to contain China's development through passing the Xinjiang-related motion will not succeed", the Chinese embassy in Ottawa said in a statement. Beijing "will surely make a resolute response" to any action that "harms Chinese interests", he warned.

Topping the government's legislative to-do list once again: Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland's omnibus pitch to implement various measures announced in her inaugural fall economic statement last November, which is now on deck to resume second-reading debate this morning. Bill S-216 would require companies to certify each year to the minister of public safety that their supply chain is free of goods produced by slavery or forced labour.

"We stand with the growing number of worldwide partners, United Nations experts and NGOs concerned about the deteriorating human rights situation that we see in China", Raab said in his opening address.

Kalbinur Tursun, a Uighur who fled China, joined the opposition Conservatives on a virtual call before the vote and said the world didn't believe the horrors of the Holocaust until the concentration camps were exposed for all to see after Word War II.

He said Canada should also persuade legislative bodies in allied countries to issue similar condemnations of China's conduct. And, he said, Canada must toughen anti-forced labour import rules. The Globe asked the department whether it planned to issue anti-forced labour rules or slap sanctions on Chinese officials.

"Despite the veneer of legality, many of those in Xinjiang's prisons are ordinary people who were convicted for going about their lives and practising their religion", Human Rights Watch (HRW) researcher Maya Wang was quoted as saying by news agency AFP.

"So far, "never again" has failed", they said.