China bans four US officials in retaliation | News

China on Tuesday announced new sanctions against four members of the US Federal Commission on Religious Freedom in retaliation for Washington’s similar actions against Chinese officials and organizations involved in alleged human rights abuses in Asia.

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China has rejected new sanctions imposed by the United States.

According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhao Lijiang in Xinjiang, Beijing is “taking action against four members of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom: its chairman Nadine Manza, its vice chairman Nouri Turkal and commissioners Anurima Bargawa and James W. Carr.”

The move comes amid Washington’s December 10 declaration of unilateral action for alleged human rights abuses in the autonomous region of Xinjiang, at the center of controversy sparked by Western powers.

Four people allowed by China have been isolated for contributing to the Biden government’s criticism of the treatment of Uyghur Muslim minorities in Xinjiang. The Chinese countermeasures include “barring the aforementioned individuals from entering China and freezing their assets in China, Hong Kong and Macau,” the spokesman added.

“Chinese citizens and companies are also barred from dealing with these people,” he added.

The U.S. Commission on Recognition was created unilaterally and in 1998 without international mandate to evaluate religious freedom in the world.