The U.S. Treasury Department on Monday announced sanctions against two Chinese officials who are allegedly connected to “serious human rights abuses” against the Uyghur Muslim minority group in the Xinjiang region. The sanctions against the Chinese government officials—Wang Junzheng, the secretary of the Party Committee of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, and Chen Mingguo, the director of the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau—are part of a coordinated effort with several U.S allies, including the European Union and Canada.
“Amid growing international condemnation, the [People’s Republic of China] continues to commit genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a Monday statement. “The United States reiterates its calls on the PRC to bring an end to the repression of Uyghurs, who are predominantly Muslim, and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang, including by releasing all those arbitrarily held in internment camps and detention facilities.” In a Monday press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying called the U.S. government’s Xinjiang-related actions an “absurdity.” He did not, however, address the Treasury’s actions directly.
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