Washington D.C., Mar 23, 2021 / 07:00 am
The U.S., in tandem with Canada, the United Kingdom, and the European Union, on Monday sanctioned Chinese officials in Xinjiang for human rights abuses committed against the Uyghurs.
The State Department announced the Global Magnitsky sanctions against two Chinese officials in Xinjiang - Wang Junzheng, the Secretary of the Party Committee of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) and Chen Mingguo, director of the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau (XPSB) – for their connection to "appalling abuses" in the region. Targeted sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act are reserved for serious human rights abusers.
"Amid growing international condemnation, the PRC continues to commit genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang," Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Monday.
Up to 1.8 million Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities are estimated to have been imprisoned in a network of more than 1,300 camps in Xinjiang. Detainees have reportedly been subject to indoctrination, forced labor, beatings, torture, and sterilizations.