China summons ambassadors of EU, UK over sanctions
China has summoned the ambassadors of the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom to protest recent sanctions imposed on Beijing over allegations of human rights violations in the western state of Xinjiang.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that it had summoned EU Ambassador Nicolas Chapuis.
It said in a statement that Vice Foreign Minister Qin Gang told the EU envoy that Brussels should recognize the seriousness of its error and correct it to prevent further damage to ties with China.
In a separate statement, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Beijing would impose sanctions on several individuals and entities on the EU side that “severely harm China’s sovereignty and interests and maliciously spread lies and disinformation.”
She said that Beijing “urges the EU side to reflect on itself, face squarely the severity of its mistake, and redress it.”
“Otherwise, China will resolutely make further reactions,” she added.
UK Ambassador Caroline Wilson was also summoned over her country’s “unilateral sanctions against China under the pretext of the so-called human rights issue in Xinjiang,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a separate statement.
“China will provide a necessary fair answer to the erroneous actions of the British side,” the statement added.
Beijing has rejected the Western allegations of human rights violations against the ethnic Muslim minority group in far-western Xinjiang, and said the United States and its allies make the false accusations for political purposes. China has also repeatedly warned against interference in its domestic affairs.
The ethnic minority of Uighurs makes up about 45 percent of the population in Xinjiang.
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