The European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada sanctioned Chinese officials on Monday for the repression of the Uyghur minority, a gesture that provoked an immediate response from Beijing, which in turn sanctioned European lawmakers and academics.
The EU kicked off this wave of coordinated restrictive measures in the morning, increasing pressure on Beijing, with the publication in its Official Gazette of the names of four officials from China’s Xinjiang Autonomous Region, which it sanctioned.
The sanctions passed by the foreign ministers of the 27 European countries, meeting in Brussels, are the first the bloc has passed against Chinese officials since the bloody crackdown on Tiananmen Square in 1989.
According to China’s Foreign Ministry, the Chinese government immediately published a list of 10 European citizens, including MPs and four entities subject to sanctions, in retaliation for “gross interference” in EU internal affairs.
Hours later, the governments of the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom announced measures similar to those of Europe for the oppression of this Muslim minority.
Angry reaction
“This gesture, based on nothing more than lies and misinformation, rejects and distorts facts,” and also affects the relationship between the EU and China, the State Department said.
The head of EU diplomacy, Spain’s Josep Borrell, said the reciprocal measures announced by China were “unacceptable” and reiterated the bloc’s determination to defend human rights.
“Rather than changing its policies and addressing our legitimate concerns, China has once again looked the other way,” he said.
The EU has punished former Xinjiang Political and Legal Committee Secretary Zhu Hailun and three other officials from the same Autonomous Region.
Brussels has also included the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, considered a paramilitary group in the Uyghur region, on the sanctions list.
By contrast, the list of those sanctioned by China includes five MEPs – French Raphael Glucksmann, Germans Reinhard Butikofer and Michael Gahler, Bulgarian Ilhan Kyuchyuk and Slovak Miriam Lexmann – alongside German academic Adrian Zenz, among others.
The Dutch government has summoned the Chinese ambassador to the Netherlands for the Chinese sanctions against his deputy Sjoerd Sjoerdsma, as the Chinese decision “is a completely unjustified reaction”, according to Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
France, for its part, also found Beijing’s sanctions “unacceptable”, as well as statements made by the Chinese embassy to a French investigator and lawmakers. Paris announced that it will call on the ambassador to pass it on to him.
Coordinated action
The United States announced sanctions against two of the officials who were also on the EU list.
The British government announced sanctions against four officials of the Chinese Communist Party in the Xinjiang region and the Public Security Bureau.
British Chancellor Dominic Raab said China is guilty of forced sterilization of Uyghur women, widespread surveillance of the Muslim minority and “the largest mass detention of any ethnic or religious group since World War II”.
Canada has sanctioned four officials and one entity “for participating in apparent and systematic violations” of rights in Xinjiang.
For the EU, the sudden escalation of tensions is taking place at a delicate time, as both sides recently reached an investment protection agreement that has been closely negotiated for seven years.
That deal still has to be ratified by the European Parliament, but with the inclusion of five MEPs on China’s sanctions list, the fate of the treaty is undoubtedly a mystery.
Other sanctions announced by the EU on Monday include General Min Aung Hlaing, head of Burma’s military junta, “for sabotaging democracy and the rule of law” in this Asian country.
Two officials from Russia’s Chechnya region were also punished.
European foreign ministers also discussed the state of relations with Turkey, an issue that will also be discussed by the leaders of the bloc at a remote summit this week.