CHINA IMPOSES SANCTIONS ON UK INDIVIDUALS, ENTITIES

China has imposed sanctions on nine individuals, including lawmakers, and four entities in the United Kingdom after London slapped sanctions on Chinese officials over the treatment of Uighurs earlier this week, Thomas Cronenberg and Chiara Palazzo reported for Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).

The Chinese side sanctioned individuals and entities that it charged had "maliciously spread lies and disinformation," a statement by Beijing's Foreign Ministry published Friday on the website of China's Embassy in the UK read. As of Friday, the named individuals and their immediate family members are prohibited from entering mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao. Their property in the country will be frozen and Chinese citizens and institutions will be prohibited from doing business with them.

Lawmakers Tom Tugendhat, who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee, former Conservative party leader Iain Duncan Smith, Neil O'Brien, Tim Loughton and Nusrat Ghani are among the sanctioned individuals. Duncan Smith said angering China was "a badge of honor." He added: "It's our duty to call out the Chinese Govt's human rights abuse in #HongKong [and] the genocide of the #Uyghurs. Those of us who live free lives under the rule of law must speak for those who have no voice," he tweeted. "If that brings the anger of China down on me, I'll wear that badge of honor."

Members of the House of Lords David Alton and Helena Kennedy were also listed, as were human rights lawyer Geoffrey Nice, who previously led the prosecution of ex-Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic and is chair of the Uyghur Tribunal, and China academic Joanne Nicola Smith Finley. The four entities were the ruling Conservative party's own Human Rights Commission, the Uyghur Tribunal, the China Research Group and the Essex Court Chambers.

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