A meeting of EU foreign ministers today (22) formally adopted sanctions against several Chinese Communist Party officials for human rights violations in Xinjiang. The picture shows a concentration camp in Xinjiang.
On March 22, in response to the EU’s first post-June 4 sanctions, the Chinese Communist Party announced retaliatory measures against 10 individuals and four entities, including EU parliamentarians, academics and institutions. However, the CCP’s countermeasures were swiftly met by a coalition of European and American countries. European dignitaries condemned the retaliation and summoned the Chinese ambassador to protest.
In addition, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement joining the European Union in condemning and stopping the CCP’s human rights persecution of the Uighurs in Xinjiang. In addition, the U.S. sanctioned two additional Chinese Communists and officials involved in human rights persecution in Xinjiang.
The EU Foreign Ministers’ meeting today (22nd) formally adopted sanctions against several Chinese Communist Party officials for human rights violations in Xinjiang, the first Time since the Tiananmen Square massacre (June 4 massacre) in 1989 that Brussels has initiated a sanctions regime against Beijing. The Chinese Foreign Ministry was the first to respond and offer retaliation.
Beijing retaliates
Immediately after the announcement of the EU sanctions, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement in response and offered retaliatory measures against 10 individuals and four entities, including members of the EU Parliament and member states’ parliaments, academics and EU institutions, i.e. the individuals concerned and their families were banned from entering the Chinese mainland and the Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions, and they and their associated companies and institutions have been restricted from communicating with China.
They are: MEPs Reinhard Butikofer, Michael Gahler, Raphaël Glucksmann, Ilhan Kyuchyuk and Miriam Lexmann, and Dutch MEP Sjoerd Wijsma. (Dovile Sakaliene, German scholar Adrian Zenz, Swedish scholar Björn Jerdén), Political and Security Committee of the Council of the EU, Subcommittee on Human Rights of the EU Parliament Parliament, the Mercator Institute for China Studies, and the Alliance of Democracies Foundation in Denmark.
They and their families have been banned from entering China, Hong Kong and Macau, and their affiliated companies and institutions have been restricted from doing business with China.
Several countries have strongly retaliated against the Chinese Communist Party
The Chinese Communist Party’s retaliation randomly drew strong reactions from the European Union, the U.S., Canadian and British governments, as well as from other countries. Canada, the British Foreign Office and the U.S. State Department quickly issued a joint statement, joining the EU in condemning the CCP.
The joint statement from the three countries said, “Today, in concert with the EU, which is taking action to raise a clear voice against the human rights persecution taking place in Xinjiang, we demand that the Chinese Communist Party stop its repression of Uighurs and other ethnic and religious groups in Xinjiang and release those who are innocently imprisoned.”
At the same time, the United States announced the addition of two Chinese Communist Party officials to the original sanctions list: Wang Junzheng, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, and Chen Mingguo, Director of the Xinjiang Public Security Department.
In response, Jose Borrell, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said in an interview, “These measures are regrettable and unacceptable. The European Union will not change its commitment to protect human rights.”
European Parliament President David Sassoli (David Sassoli) also said that China’s sanctions against MEPs are unacceptable and will have consequences. He said that MEPs are being sanctioned “for expressing their views in the exercise of their democratic duties. Human rights are inalienable rights,” he added.
The Dutch Foreign Ministry summoned the Chinese ambassador to the Netherlands today to question the inclusion of Dutch MEP Schelzma on the Communist Party’s sanctions list, according to a Dutch Foreign Ministry source. A Dutch government spokesman said that Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok will respond to the issue later today after the EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels.
UPDATE: The British Treasury announced that, following the European Union, the United Kingdom will also impose sanctions on four Chinese citizens and an organization for human rights abuses related to the persecution of the “Muslim Uighur minority in Xinjiang. “Four individuals and one organization (the Public Security Bureau of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps) have been placed on the sanctions list for human rights violations,” the Treasury said in a statement.
The French Foreign Ministry said they would summon Communist Ambassador Lu Shano to also submit a protest against the decision of the Chinese Foreign Ministry to sanction several EU nationals, including MEPs and EU parliamentarians, in particular French MEP Raphael Glucksman.
Speaking to reporters at a press briefing, French Foreign Ministry spokesperson Agnes von der Muhll said, “After the unacceptable public statements made in recent days by the Chinese Embassy in the form of insults and threats against MPs and a French academic, we revisit the functions of diplomatic embassies as set out in the Vienna Convention and the basic rules of diplomatic relations, particularly with regard to their external communications, and urge the embassy to strictly observe them.”
Last week, the Chinese Communist Party’s embassy in France reportedly warned French lawmakers about an upcoming visit to Taiwan, prompting a categorical rebuff from the French Foreign Ministry.
Brussels activates sanctions against Beijing for the first time since June 4
The European Union announced earlier today that it had imposed travel bans and asset freezes on four Chinese officials and one entity: Zhu Hailun, former secretary of the Political and Legal Committee; Wang Mingshan, a member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region; Wang Junzheng, political commissar of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps; and Chen Mingguo, head of the Public Security Department of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region; and the Public Security Bureau of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, respectively. The EU Council said: “These sanctions show that the EU is firmly committed to defending human rights and that the EU will take concrete action against those responsible for human rights violations.” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said last Monday (March 16), “Through human rights sanctions, we have created the opportunity to punish human rights violations, and we clearly want to use this mechanism.” The EU introduced this mechanism just late last year to specifically sanction human rights abuses.
Deutsche Welle said this is the first time the EU has imposed sanctions against China (the Chinese Communist Party) since the 1989 Tiananmen Square arms embargo against the Chinese Communist Party. Although the two sides reached an investment agreement between China and Europe at the end of last year, analysts believe that the EU’s decision shows that while seeking deeper economic ties, it is also prepared to confront China (CCP) on issues such as human rights.
Last July, the Trump administration placed four Chinese government officials and the Public Security Bureau of China’s Xinjiang region on a sanctions list for major human rights violations. Former U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo issued a statement calling the Beijing government guilty of “genocide and Crimes Against Humanity” in Xinjiang. In February, the Canadian and Dutch parliaments passed motions to declare the Chinese Communist Party’s oppression of minority groups in Xinjiang a “genocide.
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