(Newswire.net— July 14, 2020) — BEIJING – China has imposed sanctions on three members of the US Congress due to the decision of the administration of US President Donald Trump to punish high ranking Chinese officials for violating the rights of the Muslim minority of Uyghurs in the province of Xinjiang.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that sanctions were imposed on Republican senators Ted Cruz and Mark Ruby and Republican Congressman Chris Smith, Voice of America writes.
Hua said sanctions were also imposed on U.S. Ambassador for Religious Freedom Sam Brownback and the Congressional-Executive Committee on China, a joint congressional and White House committee formed to “monitor human rights and the development of the rule of law” in China.
Rubio is one of the chairs on that board, and Smith is a member and former co-chair, VoA reports.
The decision to impose “proportional sanctions” was announced days after the Trump administration imposed sanctions on several high-ranking Communist Party officials, including Xinjiang Party Secretary Chen Chuango.
Last month, President Donald Trump signed a bill to impose sanctions on the mass detention of up to a million Uyghurs and members of other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.
The Uyghurs, are a Muslim minority ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central and East Asia. The Uyghurs are recognized as native to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Northwest China.
Relations between the world’s two largest economies have gradually deteriorated in recent months due to a number of issues, including accusations over the response to the coronavirus pandemic, trade, and the human rights situation in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Xinjiang.
The U.S. State Department issued a warning to American citizens to “exercise increased caution” in China due to heightened risk of arbitrary law enforcement including detention and a ban from exiting the country, VoA reports.