Monday, March 21, 2022

U.S. Sanctions Chinese Officials 'Involved In Repressive Acts' In Xinjiang Region

US Sanctions Chinese Officials 'Involved in Repressive Acts' in Xinjiang Region
Sputnik News



Washington has pressured Beijing to speak out against Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, threatening to sanction China if the latter is found to be aiding its northern neighbor. So far, Beijing has only expressed support for ongoing talks between diplomats from Kiev and Moscow.
The Biden administration unveiled new sanctions against Chinese officials on Monday, restricting the visas of those the White House claims are "involved in repressive acts against members of ethnic and religious minority groups and religious and spiritual practitioners" in China's western Xinjiang Autonomous Region "and outside of China's borders, including within the United States."

The new sanctions come as the Biden administration is trying to woo Beijing into breaking its alignment with Moscow, after the Kremlin initiated its special military operation Ukraine last month.

“Had China known about the imminent crisis, we would have tried our best to prevent it,” Qin Gang, China's ambassador to the United States, offered in a Washington Post op-ed last week. Speaking separately to CBS' Face the Nation, he also noted that "normal trade, economic, financial, energy cooperations with Russia" would continue as normal, per international law.

US President Joe Biden told Chinese President Xi Jinping in a phone call on Friday that China would face sanctions if it sent military aid to Russia during the Ukraine special military operation.

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