European Union (EU) ambassadors on Wednesday agreed to issue sanctions against Chinese officials over alleged human rights violations against the Chinese Uyghur people, several news agencies reported.
Two diplomats told Reuters that the ambassadors supported travel bans and asset freezes for four individuals and one entity.
The names of the people and the entity being sanctioned will not be made public until the EU gives its final approval to a sanction against people and entities in six countries, several diplomats told Politico. The EU will plan the sanctions package on March 22.
“Restrictive measures against serious human rights violations and abuses have been adopted,” one EU diplomat told Reuters.
The move against China comes because the country has launched an investigation into the treatment of the Uyghur Muslim minority. Experts estimate that at least 1 million people are being held in the Xinjiang region. The Netherlands, Canada and the US have identified China’s behavior as genocide.
But China rejects the label and has repeatedly denied allegations of abuse of the population, claiming that detention camps are being used to combat religious extremism.
The Chinese mission to the EU responded to the reports by reaffirming its ambassador to the EU, Zhang Ming, on Tuesday asking the bloc to reconsider.
“Sanctions are confrontational,” the Chinese mission said on Twitter. “We want dialogue, not confrontation. We ask the EU side to think twice. If some insist on confrontation, we will not back down because we have no choice but to fulfill our responsibilities to the people. ‘