WASHINGTON – The United States on Monday imposed sanctions on top Chinese officials as part of a multinational effort to punish Beijing for human rights abuses against the largely Muslim Uighur minority that American officials have labeled genocide.
The penalties – in coordination with the European Union, the UK and Canada – come days after the Biden government’s heated encounter with Chinese officials in Alaska and will most likely heighten tensions between Washington and Beijing.
“Amid increasing international condemnation, the PRC continues to commit genocide and crimes against humanity,” Foreign Minister Antony J. Blinken said Monday in a statement referring to the People’s Republic of China.
“The United States reiterates its call on the PRC to end the suppression of predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities in Xinjiang, including by releasing all those arbitrarily detained in detention centers and detention centers,” he added.
The United States sentenced Wang Junzheng, secretary of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Party Committee, and Chen Mingguo, director of the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau, for their roles in the detention and serious abuse of Uighur Muslims and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang said the finance department.
The sanctions were imposed under the Global Magnitsky Act, which allows the executive branch to use economic penalties to punish officials from other nations for human rights violations. The action will freeze any assets these officials hold in the United States.
The US move came hours after the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada imposed their own sanctions on Chinese officials and organizations for human rights abuses in Xinjiang. The European Union, along with the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau, reached out to four Chinese officials. The UK has done the same. Canada has not published the names of its destinations.
In response to the European Union’s action on Monday, Chinese officials imposed sanctions on 10 Europeans, including members of the European Parliament.
“This move, based on nothing but lies and disinformation, ignores and distorts facts,” said Zhao Lijian, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, in a statement condemning the European Union’s actions, adding that the efforts made “which severely affects China’s internal affairs” and “seriously undermines China-EU relations. “
Mr Blinken said the joint action was an effort by the United States to “work multilaterally to advance respect for human rights.” A joint statement by top diplomats representing the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, among others, called for Beijing to “end and arbitrarily release its repressive practices against Uighur Muslims and members of other ethnic and religious minorities in Xinjiang and arrested . “
China’s crackdown on Uyghurs has included forced sterilization and the sending of hundreds of thousands – if not a million or more – to indoctrination camps to promote loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party and break adherence to Islam.
In a separate action on Monday, the United States, in coordination with the European Union, announced sanctions naming military officials and other units in Myanmar for their violent suppression of democratic protests.
US action against Beijing appears to be in line with the diplomatic vision of Mr Blinken and Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor to President Biden, at their first face-to-face meeting with Chinese officials in Alaska last week. Mr Sullivan said the United States remained “divided” over the challenges facing the world’s two largest economic and technology powers.
The penalties also follow the Biden administration’s decision to impose sanctions on 24 Chinese officials for undermining democratic freedoms in Hong Kong, and are similar to the Trump administration’s strategy of using sanctions as a means to punish Chinese officials for violating human rights.
Omer Kanat, the executive director of the Uighur Human Rights Project, praised the coordinated efforts of many nations to punish Chinese officials.
“Unprecedented cooperation between governments like this will end the genocide,” Kanat said in a statement on Monday. “This is what Uyghurs have asked – the dam has broken and the reaction has finally begun.”
Ana Swanson contributed to the coverage.
