BEIJING (Reuters) – China said on Sunday it was taking countermeasures against two Canadian institutions and 20 people involved in human rights issues related to the Uighurs and Tibet.
The measures, which took effect on Saturday, include asset freezes and entry bans, and targets include the Uyghur Rights Defense Project in Canada and the Canadian-Tibetan Commission, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on its website.
Human rights groups accuse Beijing of widespread abuses against the Uyghurs, a Muslim ethnic minority with a population of about 10 million in the western Xinjiang region, including the mass use of forced labor in camps. Beijing denies any violations.
China took control of Tibet in 1950 in what it described as a “peaceful liberation” from feudal slavery. But international human rights groups and exiles have routinely condemned what they call China's oppressive rule in Tibetan regions.
As for the two institutions, China said it would freeze “their movable and immovable property and other types of property within China’s territory.” It freezes the assets of 15 people in the Uyghur Foundation and five in the Tibet Commission in China, and bans them from entering China, including Hong Kong and Macau.
Phone calls to the Canadian Embassy in Beijing were not answered. Reuters did not receive an immediate response from human rights groups or Global Affairs Canada.
