China sanctions Canadian institutes, individuals over Tibet, Xinjiang rights row

Beijing has sanctioned two Canadian institutes and several individuals as tensions with Ottawa continue to worsen over Tibet and Xinjiang.

The Uygur Rights Advocacy Project, the Canada Tibet Committee and 20 people from the two organisations had been placed on the sanctions list, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Sunday, citing China’s anti-sanctions law.

Their assets within China have been frozen, all transactions and cooperation projects have been banned, and persons on the list are barred from entering China, including Hong Kong and Macau, from Saturday, according to the ministry.

The move comes after Canada imposed sanctions on eight former and current senior Chinese officials earlier this month, citing alleged human rights violations in Xinjiang – home to the mainly Muslim Uygur ethnic minority group – and in Tibet.