China again sanctioned by the United States for human rights violations and harassment

0

The US State Department on Monday announced a series of sanctions against Chinese officials implicated in the crackdown on religious and ethnic minority groups.

The measures target those “considered responsible for or complicit in policies or actions aimed at suppressing minority ethnic and religious groups, including those seeking safety abroad, and American citizens, who speak out on behalf of these vulnerable populations”, according to a department declaration.

The move comes as accusations against China for human rights abuses continue to pile up. Late last year, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Genocide Prevention Center released a report detailing human rights abuses against the Uyghur Muslim minority group in China’s Xinjiang province using testimonies from first hand and other information provided by dissidents. The report says the Chinese government has subjected Uyghurs to forced sterilization, torture, slavery and more.

This is not the first time that China has been sanctioned by the United States over human rights issues. From late 2019 to 2020, Chinese officials were sanctioned over human rights abuses in Hong Kong, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. In late 2020 and early 2021, allegations of genocide and other human rights abuses against Uyghurs in Xinjiang prompted new rounds of sanctions against China.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken called those sanctioned “perpetrators of human rights abuses” in a tweet declaration.

“The United States has taken steps to impose visa restrictions on PRC officials for attempting to intimidate, harass and suppress dissidents and human rights defenders at home and abroad. ‘outside of China,’ he wrote.

Sanctions imposed visa restrictions on officials, State Department declaration noted. They target officials suspected of being involved in the repression of individuals such as “religious and spiritual practitioners”, members of minority ethnic groups, journalists, human rights activists, peaceful protesters, etc.

The statement also said that China has attempted to “silence” Uyghur Americans and other Uyghurs working with the United States by “denying exit permits to their family members in China.”

The Genocide Prevention Center report also states that Uyghurs suffered atrocities such as sexual violence, forced labor, ban on religious and cultural expression, and destruction of cultural and religious property.

Many criticized the staging of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing last month, with activists saying the spectacle of the games distracts from crimes against humanity happening in Xinjiang.

“We call on the PRC government to end its ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, its repressive policies in Tibet, the repression of fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong, and the violations and abuses of human rights rights, including religious freedom violations, elsewhere in the country,” the State Department statement said.

Updated 3/21/22 5:40 PM ET: This story has been updated to add more information and context.

The United States has sanctioned China for its treatment of religious minorities. Above, a Uyghur family prays at the grave of a loved one on September 12, 2016, at a local shrine and cemetery in Turpan County, China.
Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

Share.

About Author

Comments are closed.