Wang Wenbin, spokesperson of China's Foreign Ministry Photo: cnsphoto

 Responding to the Canadian government's claim that protesters in Ottawa are a threat to democracy on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said the issue was Canada's internal affair and he has no comment on it. However, the Hong Kong riots of 2019 were treated with double standards and described as a "human rights movement," Wang noted.

According to the Straits Times, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has accused protestors encamped in downtown Ottawa of engaging in acts that represented "a threat to our democracy," as demonstrators continued a three-week-old blockade at the center of the capital to protest against measures to control the pandemic. 

Canadian police deployed pepper spray, stun grenades, and batons to evict "Freedom Convoy" protesters who have occupied downtown Ottawa for more than three weeks, The Guardian reported. 

Wang said he had no comment on what has happened in Canada. However, when rioters in Hong Kong violently attacked police and severely disrupted public order, the Canadian side claimed that it "unequivocally supports human rights movements around the world" and made irresponsible remarks and slandered the Hong Kong police, Wang noted.

Trudeau said in a foreign policy speech on August 19, 2019 that his government would stand firm on the response to the Hong Kong protests and Canada will continue to defend its values of human rights and international law. "We won't back down," he said. 

"In the eyes of some Canadians, protesting is considered to be a 'human rights movement' in Hong Kong but it becomes a 'threat to democracy' when it happens in Canada," said Wang Wenbin. "This kind of naked double standard is unacceptable and the Canadian side should reflect on it."