EU SANCTIONS CHINA FOR RIGHTS ABUSES VS UYGHURS

The European Union has imposed the first sanctions against China in more than 30 years, according to Euronews.

The new raft of measures is aimed at four Chinese officials and one entity believed to be involved in the alleged human rights violations of the Uyghur Muslim minority. The international community has for months alleged that serious abuses, such as mass arbitrary detention, torture and forced political indoctrination, are taking place in concentration camps located in the Xingjian autonomous region.

China has repeatedly denied all allegations.

"This move, based on nothing but lies and disinformation, disregards and distorts facts, grossly interferes in China's internal affairs, flagrantly breaches international law and basic norms governing international relations, and severely undermines China-EU relations," China's foreign ministry said shortly after the EU unveiled the sanctions.

The move from Brussels represents the first punitive measure against Beijing since the arms embargo that the then-twelve member states imposed in 1989 on Communist China as a result of the violent crackdown in Tiananmen Square. While other measures taken back then were later revised and suspended, the embargo remains in place today.

In a tit-for-tat reaction, China's Foreign Ministry sanctioned ten European individuals and four entities, including five Members of the European Parliament: Reinhard Butikofer (Germany, Greens), who currently chairs the parliament’s delegation for relations with China; Michael Gahler (Germany, EPP), who acts as the spokesman of the Europe's People Party (EPP) for foreign affairs; Raphaël Glucksmann (France, S&D), who chairs the parliament's special committee on foreign interference in democratic processes; and Ilhan Kyuchyuk (Bulgaria, Renew Europe) and Miriam Lexmann (Slovakia, EPP) who are both members of the foreign affairs committee.

Three members of national parliaments are also listed: Sjoerd Wiemer Sjoerdsma of the Dutch Parliament, Samuel Cogolati of the Belgian Federal Parliament and Dovile Sakaliene of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania. They all have in common that they have led resolutions describing the situation in Xinjiang as "genocide". Scholars Adrian Zenz, from Germany, and Björn Jerdén, from Sweden, who are specialized in China studies, were named, too.

The European entities targeted by China are: the Political and Security Committee of the Council of the European Union, the Subcommittee on Human Rights of the European Parliament, the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Germany, and the Alliance of Democracies Foundation in Denmark.

"The individuals concerned and their families are prohibited from entering the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao of China. They and companies and institutions associated with them are also restricted from doing business with China," the Chinese ministry said.

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