China hits back, sanctioning US officials and Congress members in response to Xinjiang ban

Beijing follows through on its promised retaliation for Washington’s move to hold individuals to account

Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio among those facing sanctions in latest tit-for-tat move

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The Chinese flag flies behind razor wire at a housing compound in the western Xinjiang region. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:39pm, 13 Jul 2020Updated: 12:07am, 14 Jul 2020

China announced the details of its promised retaliation against the US for its sanctions over Xinjiang, sanctioning American officials and senators on Monday in the latest tit-for-tat confrontation in their deteriorating relations.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the behaviour of US officials and politicians had severely damaged China-US relations, and should be condemned.

Hua said US Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom Samuel Brownback, US Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, US Representative Chris Smith as well as the Congressional-Executive Commission on China would be sanctioned.

“Xinjiang is entirely the internal affair of China, and the US has no right to interfere. The Chinese government’s determination to protect its sovereignty, and crack down against terrorism, separatism and extreme religious forces is unshakeable,” Hua said, adding China would take further measures based on the situation.

China’s announcement came after the US government on Thursday slapped sanctions on several Chinese senior officials in charge of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region who were “believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, the unjust detention or abuse of Uygurs, ethnic Kazakhs and members of other minority groups in Xinjiang”.

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