The sanctions stem from a feud over China’s policy towards Muslims in Xinjiang.
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BEIJING – China announced on Saturday (3/27) new sanctions against US (US) and Canadian officials. The move is the result of a growing political and economic row over Beijing’s policy in the Muslim region of Xinjiang.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs China said the head of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, Gayle Manchin, would not be allowed to visit mainland China, Hong Kong or Macau. It also cannot deal with Chinese financial entities.
The commission’s deputy chair, Tony Perkins, was also on the sanctions list, along with Canadian MP Michael Chong and the agency’s subcommittee on international human rights. “They must stop political manipulation on Xinjiang-related issues, stop interfering in China’s internal affairs in any form, and refrain from going down the wrong path. Otherwise, they will burn themselves down. fingers, “the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the sanctions unfounded retaliation for US actions against Chinese officials. “Beijing’s efforts to intimidate and silence those who speak out about human rights and fundamental freedoms only contribute to increased international scrutiny of the ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang,” a- he declared.
Beijing’s actions have called for boycott and other sanctions against foreign companies, including H&M and Nike. China has sanctioned officials of foreign governments and activists who it said spread false information about its policy towards Uyghurs and members of other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang.
The day before the latest sanctions announcement, China announced that sanctions against UK officials and H&M products were lifted from Chinese websites for refusing to buy cotton from Xinjiang. The ruling Communist Party Youth League launched an attack on H&M following the European Union’s decision to join the US, UK and Canada by imposing sanctions on Chinese officials accused of violations in Xinjiang.
“We stand in solidarity with Canada, the UK, the European Union and other partners and allies around the world in calling on the PRC to end its human rights violations and violations against the vast majority of Muslims Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minorities. groups in the United States. Xinjiang and release those arbitrarily detained, ”Blinken said in a statement referring to the official name of the People’s Republic of China.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said China’s decision to sanction conservative opposition lawmakers and a parliamentary subcommittee was an attack on free speech regarding human rights violations in Xinjiang. “China’s sanctions are an attack on transparency and freedom of expression, the values at the heart of our democracy,” he said on Twitter.
More than a million members of Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities have been locked up in detention camps in Xinjiang. The authorities are accused of having imposed forced labor and coercive birth control measures. The Chinese government rejects complaints of abuse and says the camps are intended for vocational training to support economic development and combat Islamic radicalism.
number: AP
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