Canada’s House of Commons has voted overwhelmingly to declare China’s treatment of its Uighur minority population as genocide.

The motion – which passed by 266 votes to 0 – was supported by all opposition parties and a handful of lawmakers from the ruling Liberal Party.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and most of his cabinet abstained.

This movement makes Canada the second country after the United States to recognize China’s actions as genocide.

Lawmakers also voted in favor of an amendment asking Canada to ask the International Olympic Committee to move the 2022 Winter Olympics from Beijing “if the Chinese government continues this genocide.”

China responded Tuesday evening, saying it condemned and rejected Canada’s motion, according to a Reuters report. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said China had lodged “stern representations” with Canada.

Mr. Trudeau has so far been reluctant to call China’s actions against Xinjiang’s Uyghur minority a genocide, calling the term “extremely loaded” and saying further review was needed before a decision could be made. to be taken.

Only one member of his cabinet, Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau, appeared in Parliament for the vote. Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr. Garneau said he abstained “on behalf of the Government of Canada.”

Speaking before the vote, Opposition Leader Erin O’Toole said the move was necessary to send a “clear and unequivocal signal that we will defend human rights and the dignity of human rights. man, even if it means sacrificing certain economic opportunities.

Monday’s non-binding motion marks the latest escalation in relations between Canada and China, which have deteriorated in recent years.

China’s ambassador to Canada, Cong Peiwu, earlier told the Canadian Press that the movement was “interfering in [China’s] domestic affairs.

“We strongly oppose it because it goes against the facts,” he said. “There is no such thing as genocide in Xinjiang.”

Rights groups estimate that China has detained up to a million Uyghurs in recent years in what the state defines as “re-education camps.”

BBC investigations suggest Uighurs are being used as forced laborers.

Canada’s symbolic motion does not specify next steps, but says the Canadian government must follow the example of its American neighbors.

Current and former U.S. secretaries of state Anthony Blinken and Mike Pompeo have said China’s policies against Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic minorities in the western Xinjiang region constitute genocide.