The controversy over the detention of hundreds of thousands of Uygar people in China has further diplomatic consequences. This time the government in Beijing wants to meet critics in the US and Canada.

China has also taken punitive measures against US and Canadian leaders in response to sanctions to suppress the Uygars. In Beijing, the State Department said two members of the American Commission on International Religious Freedom, Gayle Manchin and Tony Perkins, as well as Canadian MP Michael Chong and the Canadian Parliamentary Committee.

Britain, the European Union, Canada and the US imposed sanctions on China earlier this week due to the repression of the Uygar Muslim minority in northwestern Xinjiang province. Beijing reacted sharply to the measures and banned ten EU leaders and scientists, as well as four EU organizations, including the German MEP Reinhardt Buchikoffer (Greens).

Hundreds of thousands of Uygars in Chinese camps

China accused the US and Canada of “imposing sanctions based on rumors and dissolution”. “Approved Xinjiang-related issues should stop political manipulation and cease to interfere in China’s internal affairs in any way,” the ministry said.

The affected people are no longer allowed to enter mainland China or the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau, their property will be frozen there. Chinese citizens and institutions are forbidden to cooperate with them.

According to human rights organizations, at least one million Uigars and other Muslims are imprisoned in hundreds of detention camps in Xinjiang. There he is allegedly forced to give up his religion, culture and language and in some cases he is also abused. Beijing dismissed the allegations and spoke of training and work programs aimed at combating extremism in the region.