In retaliatory move, China now sanctions UK entities, lawmakers

The tit-for-tat sanctions mean that the targeted individuals and their immediate family members are prohibited from entering Chinese territory

China has sanctioned individuals including lawmakers and entities in the UK over what it called “lies and disinformation” about the situation in Xinjiang. This comes days after Britain imposed sanctions on Chinese officials over alleged rights abuses in the northwestern Chinese province.

Residents wearing masks pass by government propaganda with slogans some of which read "Forever follow the Party" and "China's Ethnicities One Family" in the city of Aksu in western China's Xinjiang region. (AP)

Beijing’s move is retaliation against a set of coordinated sanctions imposed by the US, the European Union, Britain and Canada against China over what they claim are human rights violations against the Uighur Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR).

Beijing applied retaliatory sanctions against the EU earlier this week.

Among those sanctioned on Friday by China were nine UK individuals and four entities including chairman of the foreign affairs committee Tom Tugendhat and other MPs and scholars, the Chinese foreign ministry said.

Former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith and the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission have been sanctioned because they “maliciously spread lies and disinformation”.

Four entities named by Beijing were the China Research Group, Conservative Party Human Rights Commission, Uighur Tribunal, and Essex Court Chambers, a London-based law firm.

The tit-for-tat sanctions mean that the targeted individuals and their immediate family members are prohibited from entering Chinese territory, the ministry said, adding that Chinese citizens and institutions will also be prohibited from doing business with them.

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

Activists and UN rights experts say at least 1 million Muslims have been detained in camps in Xinjiang where they have allegedly been tortured and forced into labour among other violations of human rights.

China, repeatedly denying all accusations of abuse, says camps are for vocational training and deradicalisation.

Beijing has also said the inmates have been released from the camps.

Access to the Xinjiang camps is strictly restricted, making it impossible to independently verify whether all the camps have closed.

Earlier this week, Beijing sanctioned 10 individuals including EU lawmakers and four entities for harming “…China’s sovereignty and interests and maliciously spread lies and disinformation”.

“It (the EU) must stop lecturing others on human rights and interfering in their internal affairs. It must end the hypocritical practice of double standards and stop going further down the wrong path. Otherwise, China will resolutely make further reactions,” the Chinese statement added.