China said on Sunday it was taking countermeasures against two Canadian institutions and 20 people involved in human rights issues concerning the Uyghurs and Tibet.

The measures, which took effect on Saturday, include asset freezes and bans on entry and the targets include Canada’s Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project and the Canada-Tibet Committee, China’s foreign ministry announces on its website.

Rights groups accuse Beijing of widespread abuses of Uyghurs, a mainly Muslim ethnic minority that numbers around 10 million in the western region of Xinjiang, including the mass use of forced labour in camps. Beijing denies any abuses.

China seized control of Tibet in 1950 in what it describes as a “peaceful liberation” from feudalistic serfdom. International human rights groups and exiles, however, have routinely condemned what they call China’s oppressive rule in Tibetan areas.

  • thelucky8@beehaw.orgOP
    4·
    2 days ago

    It’s related to this:

    Canada sanctions Chinese officials for human rights violations – (Dec 10, 2024)

    […] Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced sanctions under the Special Economic Measures (People’s Republic of China) Regulations against 8 former or current senior officials involved in grave human rights violations in the country.

    The sanctions announced today respond to Chinese government-led repression of ethnic and religious minorities in China, including in Xinjiang, Tibet and against those who practise Falun Gong.

    […] Canada is deeply concerned over reports that China has arbitrarily detained more than one million people in Xinjiang since 2017, many of whom were held in camps and faced psychological, physical and sexual violence.

    Tibetans have also endured human rights violations at the hands of the Chinese government. This includes forced labour, arbitrary detention and restrictions on their rights to freedom of religion or belief, expression, movement and association.

    […]

    Quick facts

    • In July 2024, Minister Joly visited China and met with Minister Wang Yi to discuss Canada-China relations, human rights and complex global and regional security issues.

    • In September 2021, Canada announced new measures to address human rights abuses in Xinjiang, China. These measures addressed the risk of goods produced from forced labour from entering Canadian and global supply chains.

    • In March 2021, Canada enacted the Special Economic Measures (People’s Republic of China) Regulations and imposed sanctions against Chinese officials and a Chinese entity in response to gross and systematic human rights violations that have been committed in China.