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March 24, 2021

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Envoys summoned over sanctions

Source: Agencies | 00:09 UTC+8 March 24, 2021 | Print Edition

CHINA yesterday said it summoned foreign diplomats in protest after the United States, the European Union, Canada and Britain jointly imposed sanctions on senior Chinese officials over alleged human rights abuses in northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying yesterday called the new sanctions “a slander and an affront to the reputation and dignity of the Chinese people.”

The accusations against China are based on fake files, words from unidentified sources and even distortion of official documents, Hua told reporters.

The moves prove that the countries and bloc do not care about human rights or facts, she said, adding that they are interfering in China’s internal affairs by using human rights excuses.

“The United States should never underestimate China’s resolve to defend its sovereignty, security and development interests and the Chinese people’s determination to uphold national dignity and legitimate rights and interests,” Hua said.

Western governments allege “mass detentions of Muslim Uygurs” in Xinjiang, where the United States says China is committing “genocide.”

China has strongly denied the accusations and says training programs, work schemes and better education have helped stamp out extremism in the region.

China responded to the sanctions quickly on Monday, announcing entry bans on 10 Europeans, including five members of the European Parliament, as well as two EU bodies and two think tanks. China also summoned the EU ambassador, Nicolas Chapuis, and the UK ambassador, Caroline Wilson, to lodge “solemn protests.”

“The so-called sanctions based on lies are not acceptable,” Wang Yi, foreign minister and state councillor, said separately during a joint briefing with visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

German politician Reinhard Butikofer, who chairs the European Parliament’s delegation to China, was among the most high-profile figures to be hit. The non-profit Alliance of Democracies Foundation, founded by former NATO secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen, was on the list, according to a statement by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Also included is Adrian Zenz, a German scholar whose research was cited by the US State Department last year to support alleged abuses in Xinjiang.

The European Union was the first to impose sanctions on Monday on four Chinese officials and one entity, a decision later mirrored by Britain and Canada.

Washington, which had already sanctioned two of those officials in July 2020, added the other pair to the list, namely Chen Mingguo, director of the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau, and another senior official in the region, Wang Junzheng.

Others hit with travel bans and asset freezes are member of the Xinjiang’s Party standing committee Wang Mingshan, the former deputy Party secretary in Xinjiang, Zhu Hailun, and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Public Security Bureau.

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