BEIJING (Reuters) – China said on Sunday it was taking retaliatory measures against two Canadian institutions and 20 people involved in human rights issues involving Uyghurs and Tibet.
The measures, which took effect Saturday, include asset freezes and entry bans, and targets include Canada’s Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project and the Canada-Tibet Committee, China’s foreign ministry said on its website.
Human rights groups accuse Beijing of widespread abuses against the Uyghurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic minority numbering about 10 million in the western region of Xinjiang, including mass use of forced labor in camps. Beijing denies any abuse.
China seized control of Tibet in 1950 in what it describes as “peaceful liberation” from feudal serfdom. However, international human rights groups and exiles have consistently condemned what they call China’s oppressive rule in Tibetan areas.
For the two institutions, China said it would freeze “movable property, real estate and other types of property within the territory of China.” It freezes the assets in China of 15 people in the Uighur foundation and five in the Tibet committee, barring them from entering China, including Hong Kong and Macau.
Calls to the Canadian embassy in Beijing went unanswered. Reuters did not immediately receive a response from the rights groups or from Global Affairs Canada.
