China announces retaliatory sanctions on US envoy, lawmakers over Xinjiang row

China has announced retaliatory sanctions against three Republican lawmakers and a US ambassador as the row over Uighurs treatment in Xinjiang continues. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a regular press briefing on July 13 that the “corresponding sanctions” have been imposed on Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, Congressman Chris Smith, and the US ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, Sam Brownback.

Earlier on July 9, the US State Department said that America will not stand idle as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) carries out human rights abuses targeting ethnic minorities in Xinjiang. The department had announced sanctions on three senior Chinese officials and their families over gross human rights violations, banning their entry in the United States.

“The United States is taking action today against the horrific and systematic abuses in Xinjiang and calls on all nations who share our concerns about the CCP’s attacks on human rights and fundamental freedoms to join us in condemning this behaviour,” State Secretary Mike Pompeo said in a statement. 

Read: China Vows To Shield Chinese Firms From US Sanctions Over Xinjiang

'Entirely China's internal affairs'

Hua said that the sanctions were in response to the “wrong actions‘ of the US, urging the Trump administration to immediately withdraw its “wrong decision”. She warned that China will make a further response depending on the development of the situation. Another spokesperson Zhao Lijian had said that the reciprocal measures are against US agencies and individuals involved in “egregious practices on Xinjiang-related issues”.

“Xinjiang affairs are entirely China's internal affairs. The US has no right and is in no position to intervene,” said Zhao.

On June 17, Trump signed “Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020” into law which condemns gross human rights violations of the ethnic Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang region in China. It is aimed at holding accountable perpetrators of human rights violations and abuses such as the systematic use of indoctrination camps, forced labour, and intrusive surveillance to eradicate the ethnic identity and religious beliefs of Uighurs and other minorities in China.

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