The European Union agreed on Wednesday to blacklist certain Chinese officials over repeated human rights violations for the first time in over three decades, some diplomats have revealed.
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This marks the first official actions against China by the EU since the arms embargo in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989.
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The sanctions are awaiting official EU approval on March 22, at which point the individuals and entities valid under the travel bans issued as part of the sanctions will be revealed.
Four Chinese individuals and one organisation are currently under consideration for these bans.
Reuters reported the sanctions are being levied over the treatment of China's Uyghur Muslim minority, over one million of whom are being detained in internment camps, according to various activists, in what many critics have referred to as a genocide.
Some western critics have also accused them of employing sterilisation, torture and forced labour against the Uyghurs.
The Chinese government denies these claims, stating the camps are used for vocational training and a fight against extremism.
“Restrictive measures against serious human rights violations and abuses adopted,” one EU diplomat said.
China is currently the EU's second-largest trade partner. The embargo that the bloc imposed on China in 1989 is still in effect today.
Chinese officials have referred to the use of sanctions as "confrontational."
China's ambassador to the EU, Zhang Ming, condemned the EU's sanctions during an online discussion.
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He warned the European Union that any human rights sanctions on Beijing would be "confrontational".
In a Twitter post, Zhang said: "Sanctions based on lies could be interpreted as a deliberate attack on China's security and development."
"It is the responsibility of the Chinese government to protect the security and welfare of the people in China," he added, stating the Chinese state wants dialogue, not confrontation.
Ensured the EU, who republished his quotes, that Beijing would not change its policies.
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