Today, Canada, along with the United Kingdom, the European Union, and the United States imposed sanctions on Chinese officials suspected of participating in long-term attacks on Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in western Xinjiang province in China.
In a statement to announce the sanctions, the Canadian Department of Global Affairs accused four senior officials of engaging in human rights Xinjiang violations. The statement said more evidence shows that the Chinese government is accountable for arbitrarily detaining over one million people and conducting “political reeducation, forced labor, forced sterilization and torture” on their religion and ethnicity.
Human Violations
China denies all reports of human rights violations in the region, saying that these refugee camps are vocational training centers necessary to fight extremism. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister said in an unrelated incident in Quebec: “These actions reflect our deep concern about serious and systematic violations of the law in the region.”
“We will continue working closely with our global associates to achieve transparency and accountability.” The sanctions have frozen all assets owned by the officials in Canada. They also prohibit them from entering Canada, citizens from the country, or businesses giving them financial services.
More Sanctions
Besides, Canada reported sanctions against the Public Security Bureau of the Xinjiang Production & Construction Corps, a government agency responsible for policing and security. Recently, the United Kingdom and the European Union announced sanctions on the four officials. The U.S. Treasury Department also sanctioned Wang Mingshan and Chen, and Zhu and Wang Junzheng who faced earlier limitations in earlier times.
Anthony Brinken, US Secretary of State said in a statement: “The unified transatlantic response conveys a strong warning to people who abuse or violate global human rights. We will take more actions with like-minded partners.”
Brinken said: ”We will continue to work with allies across the globe to demand an immediate cessation of criminal activities in China and justice for many victims.” China quickly reacted and sanctioned 10 European official members, including European parliamentarians.
China Confronts
A spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the EU’s move was “founded on lies and false information” and meant to interfere with China’s internal affairs. In an online statement published online, the spokesperson said: “China urges the EU to consider itself, face the seriousness of the error and correct it.”
China stated that those countries putting sanctions to country’s officials must stop teaching human rights to others and interfering with China’s internal affairs. They should end their hypocritical double standards and stop taking wrong paths, lest China will continue provoking more response.
