Dec. 21 (UPI) — The Chinese government on Tuesday ordered sanctions against four American officials in retaliation for U.S. punishment against Beijing over purported human rights abuses in the country’s Xinjiang region.
U.S. officials ordered the sanctions earlier this month over China’s treatment of the Muslim Uyghur population in the northwestern Xinjiang region.
The reported abuses of the Uyghur people in China has been the focus of substantial criticism from Western governments and human rights advocates. The United States and other countries have ordered a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February as a result of the purported abuses.
Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian announced the retaliatory sanctions on Tuesday against U.S. officials Nadine Maenza, Nury Turkel, Anurima Bhargava and James Carr.
All four are members of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which monitors religious freedoms.
As a result of the sanctions, all four are banned from entering mainland China and Chinese territories Hong Kong and Macau. Any related assets belonging to the four individuals have also been frozen and they are prohibited from doing business with Chinese nationals and institutions.
The U.S. sanctions also included a ban on imports from the Xinjiang region, which is a major producer of cotton, over reports of forced labor.