The US, EU, UK and Canada have imposed sanctions on China over its treatment of Uyghur Muslims in a coordinated move that sparked immediate retaliation from Beijing. Travel bans and asset freezes have now been imposed on four officials and a security organization over persecution and mass internments of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region. The moves came ahead of the arrival of US secretary of state Antony Blinken in Brussels later on Monday.
The sanctions from the western powers cover high-level officials and entities in Xinjiang with direct connections to the internment camp system. These include the public security bureau and Wang Junzheng, the Communist party boss of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, a paramilitary organisation that plays a central role in the region’s economy and security. Blinken said the sanctions demonstrated “our ongoing commitment to working multilaterally to advance respect for human rights”.
The EU was the first western power to announce the sanctions and was hit with immediate retaliation from China’s foreign ministry, which imposed travel bans on 10 EU individuals and four entities. This included MEPs that have criticised Beijing’s policy, such as French MEP Raphaél Glucksmann, German scholar Adrian Zenz and Swedish analyst Björn Jerdén.
Beijing said the EU measures were “based on nothing but lies and disinformation”, adding that they “severely” undermined its ties with the European bloc.
Beijing’s response in turn prompted a warning from members of the EU parliament that a market-access deal recently negotiated between the bloc and China was now in jeopardy.
The parliament’s large centre-left group, the S&D, said that the lifting of
Chinese sanctions against MEPs was “a pre-condition” for work on ratifying the agreement to advance.