China said on Sunday it was taking action against two Canadian institutions and 20 people involved in human rights issues related to the Uyghurs and Tibet.
The measures, which came into effect on Saturday, include asset freezes and entry bans and targets include Canada's Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project and the Canada-Tibet Committee, China's foreign ministry said. announced on her website.
Rights groups accuse Beijing of widespread abuses against Uyghurs, a predominantly Muslim minority of about 10 million in the western region of Xinjiang, including the widespread use of forced labor in camps. . Beijing denies any abuse.
China seized control of Tibet in 1950 in what it describes as “peaceful liberation” from feudalistic serfdom. International human rights and refugee groups, however, have consistently criticized what they call China's oppressive rule in Tibetan areas.
For the two institutions, China said it is freezing their “movable property, movable property and other types of property within the territory ofChina.” It freezes the property in China of 15 people in the Uyghur institute and five people on the Tibetan committee, preventing them from entering China, including Hong Kong and Macau.
Canada recently announced sanctions on several Chinese officials, citing “serious human rights violations.”
“Canada is deeply concerned about the human rights violations in Xinjiang and Tibet and against those who practice Falun Gong,” Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said in a statement released earlier this month. .
Calls to the Canadian embassy in Beijing were not answered. Reuters did not immediately receive a response from the rights groups or Global Affairs Canada.
