US Sanctions Chinese Officials Over Uyghur Human Rights

Source: Regulation Asia Editors, Regulation Asia 2020-07-13

US persons and financial institutions are prohibited from conducting financial transactions with any of the four designated individuals.

The US has imposed sanctions on four senior Chinese officials for their alleged roles in human rights abuses targeting ethnic minorities in Xinjiang province, China.

China is accused of mass detentions, religious persecution, torture, food deprivation, and forced sterilisation of a number of ethnic groups, including Uyghurs, Turkic-speaking Muslims from Central Asia.

Three Chinese officials and their family members have so far been barred from entering the US by the State Department;

Chen Quanguo, the party secretary of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region and a member of the politburo
Zhu Hailun, party secretary of the Xinjiang Political and Legal Committee
Wang Mingshan, party secretary of the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau

The same three individuals, plus the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau and a fourth individual, a former security official named Huo Liujun, have also been designated by the US Treasury Department.

The designation means that their US assets will be frozen, and that US persons and financial institutions are prohibited from conducting financial transactions with any of the designated persons, unless otherwise exempt by OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control).

“As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the entity and individuals named above, and of any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by them, individually, or with other blocked persons, that are in the United States or in the possession or control of US persons, are blocked and must be reported to OFAC,” the Treasury Department said.

China as said it will impose reciprocal measures in response, saying the US action “marked a serious interference in China’s affairs and was deeply detrimental to bilateral relations”.

The statement from the State Department is available here, and from the Treasury Department here.

US Sanctions Chinese Officials Over Uyghur Human Rights

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