US imposes visa restrictions on Chinese officials over ‘brutal suppression’ of Uygurs and other Muslims in Xinjiang

Chinese paramilitary police in riot gear stand guard across the entrance to a large mosque in the centre of the city of Urumqi in Xinjiang in July 2009. Photo: Reuters. Sketched by the Pan Pacific Agency.

WASHINGTON D.C., Oct 8, 2019, SCMP. The US government announced on Tuesday visa restrictions on Chinese government officials suspected of repressing Uygurs and other ethnic minorities in the country, reported the South China Morning Post.

The Chinese government has instituted a highly repressive campaign against Uygurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other members of Muslim minority groups in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region (Xinjiang) that includes mass detentions in internment camps,” US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo announced, less than two days before the start of planned high-level trade talks with a team led by Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He.

The new sanctions follow the US Commerce Department’s decision on Monday to impose restrictions on the export of US products to 28 Chinese government and business entities over the “brutal suppression” of Muslims in China.

“The United States calls on the People’s Republic of China to immediately end its campaign of repression in Xinjiang, release all those arbitrarily detained, and cease efforts to coerce members of Chinese Muslim minority groups residing abroad to return to China to face an uncertain fate,” Pompeo said.

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