China sanctions US and Canadian officials over Xinjiang rebuke

Chinese government sanctions target three individuals and one entity from Canada and the United States.

China has announced sanctions against two US officials, a Canadian lawmaker and a Canadian parliamentary subcommittee, in response to “coordinated action” taken by the two countries last week over Beijing’s treatment of its Muslim Uighur minority. Beijing has been pushing back against sanctions imposed by the United States, European Union, United Kingdom and Canada for what they say are rights violations against Uighurs and other Turkic minorities in the country’s western Xinjiang region. In a statement on Saturday, China’s foreign ministry said it would take measures against the chair and vice-chair of the US government’s Advisory Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), Gayle Manchin and Tony Perkins.