US sets new sanctions on China for harassing religious, ethnic minorities

The US decision comes soon after its diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics over China’s treatment of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang region

US secretary of state Antony Blinken on Monday announced new visa restrictions on Chinese officials for their actions to repress ethnic and religious minorities both inside and outside the country.

A Chinese police officer takes his position by the road near what is officially called a vocational education centre in Yining in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, in 2018. (REUTERS/FILE)

In the new set of measures against China, the United States said it has taken actions against Chinese officials for their “involvement in repressive acts against members of ethnic and religious minority groups and religious and spiritual practitioners inside and outside of China’s borders”.

Blinken, in a statement on Monday, said that the US rejected efforts by China’s officials to “harass, intimidate, surveil and abduct” members of ethnic and religious minority groups, including those who have sought safety abroad.

The US decision comes soon after its diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics, held in February, over China’s treatment of ethnic and religious minorities in the country’s remote Xinjiang region. It also comes in the midst of intense US-China engagement over Ukraine: US President Joe Biden in call on Friday warned China’s Xi Jinping that there would be “consequences” if the country decides to offer support to Russia.

Monday’s actions entailed new visa restrictions on officials that the US believed were responsible or complicit in repressive policies. Blinken called on China to “cease its acts of transnational repression, including attempting to silence Uighur American activists and other Uighur individuals serving the American people by denying exit permission to their family members in China”.

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