Several Western countries have imposed sanctions on officials in China following human rights issues against large sections of the Uighur Muslim community in Xinjiang province.
The restrictions include travel bans and asset freezes. Among them are Xinjiang Public Security Bureau director Chen Mingguo; Xinjiang Communist Party member Wang Minshan; secretary of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), Wang Junzheng; former vice -chairman of the Communist Party in Xinjiang, Zhu Hailun and the XPCC Public Security Bureau.
China detained more than a million Uighurs in northwestern Xinjiang and allegedly tortured, committed forced labor and sexually abused all detainees.
Beijing has often denied the allegations and claimed the detention camps were ‘education camps’ to deal with terrorist activities.
The sanctions are a joint effort by the European Union (EU), the United Kingdom (UK), the United States (US) and Canada.
The EU has not imposed new sanctions on China over human rights violations since the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident. At the incident, the Chinese military opened fire on pro-democracy protesters.
According to UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, China has violated a large part of human rights.
In fact, Raab also described the abuse of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang as one of the worst humanitarian crises at the moment.
"I think it is clear that by acting with our allies, involving a total of 30 countries, we are sending a clear message to the Chinese government, that the international community will not turn a blind eye to serious and systematic human rights violations and we will take action against them. who is responsible, ”said Raab.
China, however, took similar action by blocking European officials.
According to Beijing, 10 officials and four entities in Europe would "undermine China's sovereignty and interests and claim that Western countries have spread false information".
Among the blocked European officials was a German politician who chaired the European Parliament's delegation to China, Reinhard Butifoker.
