China announces sanctions on Britons as UK joins EU move in Xinjiang

Sanctioned individuals and groups would be barred from visiting Chinese territory and banned from having financial transactions with Chinese citizens and institutions.

China on Friday announced sanctions on British individuals and entities following the UK's joining the EU and others in sanctioning Chinese officials accused of human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region.

A statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry said the move by the Western bloc was based on “nothing but lies and disinformation, flagrantly breaches international law and basic norms governing international relations, grossly interferes in China's internal affairs, and severely undermines China-UK relations".

Britain's ambassador to China has been summoned for a diplomatic protest, the statement said. Sanctioned individuals and groups would be barred from visiting Chinese territory and banned from having financial transactions with Chinese citizens and institutions.

Nine British individuals and four institutions were placed on the sanctions list, including member of Parliament Iain Duncan Smith and the Conservative Party's Human Rights Commission. Smith is a former leader of the Conservatives.

China's sanctions are the latest move in an increasingly bitter row over Xinjiang, where Beijing is accused of detaining more than 1 million members of Uyghur and other Muslim minority group engaging in forced labour and imposing coercive birth control measures.

“China is firmly determined to safeguard its national sovereignty, security and development interests, and warns the UK side not go further down the wrong path. Otherwise, China will resolutely make further reactions," the Foreign Ministry said.