China targets UK with sanctions for Xinjiang ‘disinformation’

Foreign ministry says nine individuals and four groups subject to immediate sanctions and threatens further action.

China’s foreign ministry on Friday announced sanctions against organisations and individuals in the United Kingdom for “maliciously” spreading “lies and disinformation” on the situation in the far western region of Xinjiang where the United Nations says the Chinese government is committing rights abuses against the Uighurs and other minority Muslim groups. The sanctions target four entities and nine individuals, banning the affected people and their family members from entering Chinese territory, and Chinese citizens and institutions from dealing with them, with immediate effect. “China is firmly determined to safeguard its national sovereignty, security and development interests, and warns the UK side not [to] go further down the wrong path,” the ministry said in a statement. “Otherwise, China will resolutely make reactions.”