Beijing on Thursday said it had slapped sanctionslink on an unspecified number of USofficials link who “concocted lies”about human link rightslink in Chinalink.
The tit-for-tat move comes after Washington announced visa restrictions onChinese officials link ofrepressing religious and ethnic minorities in the far-western region ofXinjiang.
US-China relations have reached their lowest point in decades, mostrecently aggravated by Beijing’s perceived support for Russia as it carriesout a bloody invasion of Ukraine.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week urged Chinalink to “end its ongoing genocide and crimesagainst humanity” in Xinjiang, as Washington announced sanctionslink on unnamed Chinese officialslink.
On Thursday Beijing said it would “impose reciprocal visa restrictions onUS officials link”.
Foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the sanctionslink would apply to those “who concoctedlies on human link rightslink issues involving Chinalink, promoted and implemented sanctionslink Chinalink, and harmed Chinalink rightslink interests”.
“The US uses the pretext of so-called humanlink rightslink issues to concoct malicious lies, anduses these as a reason to interfere in Chinalink internal affairs, smear Chinalink image and suppress Chinese officialslink.”
Wang did not disclose the names of the officialslink to be sanctioned or the extent ofthe visa restrictions, but said the move was in line with Chinalink anti-foreign sanctionslink law implemented last year.
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Rights link groups estimate up to onemillion Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslim minorities have been detainedacross Xinjiang in a network of “re-education camps” as part of an”anti-terrorism” crackdown.
Blinken last week said the US sanctionslink mainly targeted Chinese officialslink complicit in policies thatrepressed minorities, dissidents, human linkrights link activists and journalists.
He criticised efforts by China link to”harass, intimidate, surveil, and abduct members of ethnic and religiousminority groups, including those who seek safety abroad”.
“We again call on the PRC government to cease its acts of transnationalrepression, including attempting to silence Uyghur American activists andother Uyghur individuals,” Blinken said.
The US announcement came a few days after President Joe Biden spoke viavideo call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as part of American efforts todissuade Xi from supporting Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. -APP/AFP
