China bans four from US religious freedom panel in response to Reuters sanctions

BEIJING (Reuters) – China has banned four people from entering the U.S. Religious Freedom Commission, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, accusing the US of human rights abuses in Xinjiang following US sanctions against Chinese people and entities this month.

Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the four people would be banned from the U.S. International Committee on Religious Freedom (USCIRF), mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.

Their assets in China would also be frozen and Chinese institutions and citizens would be banned from dealing with them, Zhaok said at a regular meeting in Beijing.

“It is not surprising that the Chinese government is imposing additional baseless sanctions in response to growing concerns about serious violations of its human rights and religious freedoms,” said Nadine Maenza, USCIRF President, one of China’s banned people, according to a network statement. .

The United States has said the December 10 sanctions were a response to human rights violations in China’s Xinjiang region, where Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities have been illegally arrested, abused and forced to work. China denies the abuses in Xinjiang and says its policies are helping to counter extremism.

USCIRF is a federal government agency that evaluates and suggests policies for countries that believe that religious freedom is at risk.

In addition to the USCIRF president, the sanctions would also affect the USCIRF vice president and two commissioners, Zhao said.