This is the first such coordinated effort where western powers have joined hands to fight against violation of human rights.
In a coordinated effort, the European Union (E.U.), United States (U.S.), United Kingdom (U.K.) and Canada imposed fresh sanctions on Chinese diplomats on Monday, i.e., March 22, 2021, over human right abuses in Xinjiang, the far western region in People’s Republic of China.
This is the first such coordinated effort where western powers have joined hands to fight against violation of human rights.
The sanctioned Chinese officials include Chen Mingguo, the Director of the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau, Wang Mingshan, a member of Xinjiang’s Communist Party’s standing committee, Wang Junzheng, Party Secretary of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), a state-owned economic and paramilitary organisation and Zhu Hailun, the Former Deputy Communist Party head in Xinjiang, who is accused of having held a key political position in overseeing the running of the camps.
The western power have also sanctioned the XPCC Public Security Bureau, which is in charge of implementing XPCC policies on security matters, including the management of detention centers.
The sanctions means that these people will not be allowed to travel to the nations that have imposed the sanctions. Moreover, their assets, if any, in these countries would be frozen.
The western powers have accused China of torturing Uyghur Muslims in detention camps, which China claims to be vocational training centres. The Uyghurs are Muslims of Turkic ethnicity who live in East and Central Asia. Around 10 million. They have been long accusing Chinese authorities of cultural, religious and economic discrimination. Uyghurs in Xinjiang live under a full-fledged police State with extensive controls and restrictions upon their religious, cultural and social life. They are not allowed to own books about Uyghurs, grow a beard or have a prayer rug. Besides, the Government had also installed cameras in the homes of private citizens.
However, China continues to maintain its stand that all the charges are fake and that U.S. is driving a concerted effort to curb China’s growth.
Taking it to twitter, the U.S. Secretary of State – Antony Blinken tweeted,
The U.S. is designating two People’s Republic of China officials under our Global Magnitsky sanctions in connection with serious human rights abuses in Xinjiang. We stand united with the UK, Canada, and the EU in promoting accountability for those who abuse human rights.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) March 22, 2021
The Foreign Secretary of U.K. – Dominic Raab tweeted,
The 🇬🇧 🇨🇦 🇺🇸 are united in our deep concern regarding China’s human rights violations in Xinjiang.@MarcGarneau @ABlinken and I stand united and call for justice for those suffering in Xinjiang.https://t.co/gkFEQEqLwz
— Dominic Raab (@DominicRaab) March 22, 2021
The official twitter handle of Canada’s Foreign Policy (Foreign Policy CAN) tweeted,
In coordination with the #UK and the #US, and in solidarity with #EU, Canada announces sanctions in response to #humanrightsviolations in #Xinjiang.
— Foreign Policy CAN (@CanadaFP) March 22, 2021
Full text: https://t.co/C7q9a8kIjJ
It further tweeted,
Along with our international partners, we call for an end to the repression against #Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities. pic.twitter.com/n7974fiHT6
— Foreign Policy CAN (@CanadaFP) March 22, 2021
The sanctions come 2 days after U.S. and China held talks about de-escalating the tension between them, including the ongoing trade war which was escalated to newer heights during Trump’s presidency.
Separately, Australia and New Zealand have welcomed the sanctions and have issued a statement expressing concerns about the growing number of credible reports of severe human rights abuses against ethnic Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.”
Reacting to sanctions, China has imposed sanctions on European lawmakers, the EU’s main foreign policy decision-making body known as the Political and Security Committee and 2 institutes. China also summoned the E.U. Ambassador – Nicolas Chapuis, to lodge a solemn protest and demand that the bloc correct its error to prevent further damage to relations.
The Deputy Director of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Information Department – Lijian Zhao tweeted,
#China will sanction 10 #EU individuals and 4 entities that have been spreading lies and disinformation at the cost of China's interests. https://t.co/Wl4MvpPiWF
— Lijian Zhao 赵立坚 (@zlj517) March 23, 2021
The sanctioned officials include Reinhard Butikofer, a German politician who chairs the European Parliament’s delegation to China, the non-profit Alliance of Democracies Foundation, founded by former NATO secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen. China also included Adrian Zenz, a German scholar whose research was cited by the State Department last year when highlighting alleged abuses in Xinjiang.
