Britain imposes sanctions against senior Chinese officials for human rights violations towards Uighurs

Britain imposes sanctions against Chinese officials for human rights violations, in a co-ordinated response with US, Canada and EU.

Detainees in a Xinjiang internment camp.

Britain has imposed sanctions against senior Chinese government officials for gross human rights violations towards the Uighurs in Xinjiang, in a co-ordinated response with the United States, Canada and the European Union.

But China has retaliated to the moves with immediate sanctions against 10 European officials for “flagrant breaches of international law’’.

British foreign secretary Dominic Raab announced on Monday that the United Kingdom will, for the first time, impose asset freezes and travel bans on four Chinese government officials as well as a Xinjiang security body.

Mr Raab said: “The evidence of widespread human rights abuses in Xinjiang cannot be ignored — including mass detention and surveillance, reports of torture and forced sterilisation.

“Working with our international partners we are imposing targeted sanctions to hold those responsible to account.”

This is the first time Britain has imposed such sanctions against Chinese officials. It is the first time in three decades that the EU, which imposed the same sanctions against the same individuals, have taken such measures.

The last time the EU imposed sanctions against China was after the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.

Australia debated a motion in parliament on Monday to condemn China’s human rights systemic breaches after Kevin Andrews, chair of the Parliamentary human rights subcommittee, moved a private member’s motion against modern slavery which drew bipartisan support.

“The most egregious, systematic abuse of human rights in the world is occurring in Xinjiang,” said Mr Andrews.“I encourage the parliament to uphold the rule of law and universal human rights, and not to accept the totalitarian practices of the Communist regime.”

The Chinese embassy said “We flatly reject the ridiculous and absurd rhetoric on Xinjiang by a handful of MPs in today’s House session.Their allegations, based on disinformation and lies and out of political motive, were deliberately made to smear China.’’

The Chinese officials sanctioned by the UK and the EU are senior party members of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. They are Zhu Hailun the former secretary; Hailun’s deputy, Wang Junzheng, who was also previously a secretary; Wang Mingshan, the current secretary who was also a former director of the Public Security Department of the region and Chen Mingguo, Vice Chairman of the Government of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region and Director of its Public Security Department.

Members of the Women Muslim Uighur minority hold placards and flags of east Turkestan as they demonstrate near China’s consulate in Istanbul during the International Women Day.

In addition the state run organisation responsible for security and policy, the Public Security Bureau of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps has been sanctioned.

United States State Secretary Antony Blinken said the US was sanctioning Wang Junzheng and Chen Mingguo who had committed “appalling abuses in Xinjiang”.

He also accused Beijing of committing “genocide and crimes against humanity”and demanded the release of all those arbitrarily held in internment camps and detention facilities.

But China quickly responded with a blacklist of 10 Europeans and four organisations for “severely harming China’s sovereignty and interests and maliciously spread lies and disinformation.”

Beijing banned European Parliamentarians Reinhard Butikofer, Michael Gahler, Raphael Glucksmann, Ilhan Kyuchyuk and Miriam Lexmann, the Dutch politician Sjoerd Wiemer Sjoerdsma, Belgian MP Samuel Cogolati, Lithuanian MP Dovile Sakaliene and two researchers — Adrian Zenz of Germany and Bjorn Jerden of Sweden.

“The individuals concerned and their families are prohibited from entering the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao of China,” China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. “They and companies and institutions associated with them are also restricted from doing business with China.”

Beijing also sanctioned the Political and Security Committee of the Council of the European Union; the Subcommittee on Human Rights of the European parliament; the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Germany, and the Alliance of Democracies Foundation in Denmark.