Brussels, March 22, (dpa/GNA) – The European Union is sanctioning China for abuses against the Uighur people, the first time the bloc has issued restrictive measures on Beijing for human rights violations since the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.
Four individuals and one entity are to be slapped with measures like asset freezes or travel bans, EU and diplomatic sources confirmed to dpa on Monday. The bloc’s foreign ministers agreed on the move at a meeting in Brussels.
The names of these people and the entity should be officially published shortly – the final step to implement the sanctions.
In the last few years, hundreds of Uighurs, Kazakhs and Huis have testified about being held in internment camps in Xinjiang province as part of what observers say is a government campaign to forcibly assimilate ethnic minorities.
The Chinese government says the camps – estimated to have held more than 1 million people since 2017 – are “vocational education centres” to eradicate extremism and terrorism.
The move may well set the EU on a confrontation course with Beijing, which last week asked the bloc to “think twice” about the move. “If some insist on confrontation, we will not back down,” China’s EU ambassador Zhang Ming said.
The bloc is also to sanction several individuals and entities from North Korea, Russia, Libya, Eritrea and South Sudan on Monday, according to diplomatic sources.
Eleven individuals involved in Myanmar’s military coup and the repression of demonstrators there are also to be slapped with restrictive measures, the bloc’s top diplomat Josep Borrell announced on his way into the talks in Brussels.
“We don’t want to punish the people in Myanmar with sanctions,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said. “We are still pushing to stay in dialogue for a peaceful solution.”
Last week, a senior EU official said individuals or entities linked to the military could be sanctioned.
Security forces have been lashing out against huge sections of Myanmar civil society ever since the February 1 coup. Clashes have grown deadlier in recent weeks, with the number of dead now past 200 and detentions also rising.
Aside from endorsing sanctions, the EU ministers are expected to discuss the politically sensitive issues of Turkey and Russia, attempting to hash out their strategic positions on both countries.
While relations with Turkey have somewhat improved over the past months, the relationship to Russia has deteriorated.
GNA