On Monday, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced new visa restrictions on Chinese officials for repressing ethnic and religious minorities both inside and outside the country. Mr. Blinken also reiterated a call for China to “end its ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity” in the northwestern region of Xinjiang in a statement that provided no specific details on which officials would be targeted.
China has detained more than 1 million Uighur Muslims
According to rights groups, Xinjiang has been engulfed in a years-long “anti-terrorism” campaign that has seen more than a million Uighurs and other Muslim minorities detained in a sprawling network of “re-education” camps. The visa restrictions, according to Mr. Blinken, will target Chinese officials who are complicit in policies that oppress religious and ethnic minorities, as well as other dissidents, human rights activists, and journalists.
United States rejects efforts by PRC
The actions of Chinese officials, according to the US State Department, extended beyond China’s borders, including into the United States. Mr. Blinken stated, “The United States rejects efforts by PRC (People’s Republic of China) officials to harass, intimidate, surveil, and abduct members of ethnic and religious minority groups, including those seeking safety abroad, and United States citizens who speak out on their behalf.”
“We reiterate our call for the PRC government to end its acts of transnational repression, including attempts to silence Uyghur American activists and other Uyghur individuals serving the American people by denying their family members in China exit permission,” he added.
Mr. Blinken’s statement, according to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin, is full of “political lies… and groundlessly suppresses Chinese officials.”
Mr. Wang stated, “China firmly opposes this,” and urged Washington to immediately lift the sanctions. “Otherwise, China will respond with reciprocal countermeasures,” he said, without specifying what those countermeasures would be.
The new actions come just days after American President Joe Biden held a video call with Chinese President Xi Jinping in which he attempted to persuade Mr. Xi not to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.