European Union (EU) ambassadors agreed on Wednesday to issue sanctions against Chinese officials for alleged human rights violations against China’s Uyghur people, multiple news outlets reported.
Two diplomats told Reuters that the ambassadors supported travel bans and asset freezes for four people and one entity.
The names of the people and entity being punished will not be released until the EU gives final approval to a series of sanctions against people and entities in six countries, multiple diplomats told Politico. The EU will consider the sanctions package on March 22.
“Restrictive measures against serious human rights violations and abuses adopted,” an EU diplomat told Reuters.
The action against China comes because the country has been scrutinized for the way it treats the Uyghur Muslim minority. Experts say at least 1 million people are being held in the Xinjiang region. The Netherlands, Canada and the US have classified China’s behavior as genocide.
But China rejects the label and has repeatedly denied accusations of population abuse and claims that detention camps are used to combat religious extremism.
The Chinese mission to the EU responded to the reports by reposting its ambassador Zhang Ming on Tuesday, asking it to reconsider the bloc.
“Sanctions are confrontational,” the Chinese mission said on Twitter. “We want dialogue, not confrontation. We ask the EU side to think twice. If some insist on confrontation, we will not flinch because we have no options but to fulfill our responsibilities to the people. “