China has banned four members of a US commission on religious freedom from entering the country.
The information was released, this Tuesday (21), by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after the US sanctions applied this month against Chinese people and entities for accusations of human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region.
The four people, from the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, have been banned from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said.
Their assets in China would also be frozen and Chinese institutions and citizens would be banned from doing business with them, Zhao told a news conference in Beijing.
The USCIRF did not respond to a request for comment on the case made by Reuters via email.
The United States said its sanctions imposed on December 10 were in response to human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang region, where Uighurs and other Muslim minorities were allegedly illegally detained, mistreated and forced to work.
A China denies that abuses have been committed in Xinjiang, and says its police are there to fight extremism.
The USCIRF is a US federal government entity that evaluates and suggests policies for countries where a religious freedom is considered threatened.
The president, vice president and two commissioners of the USCIRF would be prohibited from entering, said Zhao.
Reference: CNN Brasil
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