The Chinese government has warned the United States that it would “strike back” in response to any “reckless” actions, urging Washington to withdraw its recent passing of sanctions targeting people and entities tied to human rights abuses committed by Beijing.
This is coming after the United States imposed sweeping human rights-related sanctions recently against Chinese individuals and entities, adding individuals and entities tied to Myanmar, North Korea and Bangladesh.
In a swift reaction, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin denounced the sanctions as “perverse actions”.
In a news conference, Wang said “We urge the US to immediately withdraw the relevant wrong decision and stop interfering in China’s internal affairs and harming China’s interests.
“If the US acts recklessly, China will take effective measures to strike back resolutely”.
The development is the latest in a raft of sanctions timed to coincide with Biden’s two-day virtual Summit for Democracy, where he announced initiatives to bolster democracy around the world and support for pro-democracy legislation in the United States.
Wang vowed that Beijing “is unwavering in its determination to defend national sovereignty, security, and development interests”.
The ministry’s spokesperson also defended China’s policy in dealing with the Muslim Uighur community in the autonomous region of Xinjiang, saying it is determined “to combat violence, terrorism, separatism, and religious extremist forces”.
“The perverse actions of the United States cannot destroy the overall shape of Xinjiang’s development, stop China’s progress, or reverse the trend of historical development.”
Among those targeted by the US Treasury for sanctions was the Chinese artificial intelligence company SenseTime, accusing it of having developed facial recognition programmes that can determine a target’s ethnicity, with a particular focus on identifying ethnic Uighurs.
Meanwhile, UN experts and rights groups estimate more than a million people, mainly Uighurs and members of other Muslim minorities, have been detained or imprisoned in recent years in a vast system of camps in Xinjiang.
