EU sanctions Chinese officials for human rights violations

The sanctions, which include travel bans and asset freezes, are being imposed because of Beijing’s actions in Xinjiang, which the United States and some European capitals have labeled as genocide against the Uighur Muslim minority.

The decision still needs formal approval, which should happen when the foreign ministers meet in late March. Chinese officials are included in a broader list of alleged human rights violators in Russia, North Korea and Africa.

Employee names will only be released when a formal decision has been made.

The decision is the latest sign that, despite maintaining open channels with Beijing and pushing for deeper economic ties, the EU is prepared to confront China on human rights and other issues. The bloc is trying to maintain a delicate – and often divisive – balance in its relationship with a country it calls its competitor, its partner and systemic rival.

Last year, the EU put pressure on senior Chinese officials, including President Xi Jinping, about human rights violations in Xinjiang, the country’s treatment of human rights activists and journalists and the increasing control of Beijing in Hong Kong. . This drew resistance from Chinese officials, with Xi attacking EU leaders for their own human rights problems and other officials demanding that Europe not interfere in internal affairs.

At the same time, however, the EU and China have taken important steps to deepen their economic ties. In December, the two sides ended seven years of negotiations on an investment deal, which raised concerns among the new Biden government and some lawmakers in Brussels.

At the time of the investment agreement, which still needs to be ratified, EU officials insisted that the agreement would not prevent them from putting pressure on issues such as human rights and Hong Kong and pointed to the new human rights sanctions, also established last December, as a means of doing so.

There were no immediate comments on the Chinese mission’s sanctions deal in Brussels.

Earlier this month, the EU used its human rights sanctions, which are similar to the U.S. Magnitsky Act for the first time, against those involved in the arrest of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny. However, the EU was already planning a wider round of sanctions against officials around the world for human rights violations.

Still, it took three days of negotiations between EU ambassadors in Brussels this week to overcome differences over the sanctions target list. The government of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has strong political and economic ties to Beijing, led opposition to the new sanctions, but the 27 governments reached an agreement on Thursday afternoon.

After the Chinese Communist Party’s use of lethal force against demonstrators in Beijing in 1989, the EU imposed a series of economic sanctions and embargoes on China, but they fell a long time ago when ties with Beijing flourished in the 1990s and 2000s. The EU maintained an arms embargo on China.

In recent years, as Xi tightened control in China, tensions have increased between the EU and Beijing, with struggles over trade and human rights issues, as well as tensions over what the EU sees as Chinese misinformation during the coronavirus crisis. The EU has started to discuss Chinese challenges with Washington, although it insists it will follow its own independent line with Beijing.

“There is a real dynamic going on. Our Chinese friends are reaping what they planted in Europe, ”said an EU diplomat.

Last July, the EU passed some modest measures against China’s crackdown in Hong Kong, restricting extradition agreements with the island. The bloc is evaluating additional measures.

However, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in particular, pressured the region to maintain a close relationship with China. German exports to China have multiplied, and Merkel has been a strong supporter of the swift conclusion of the investment agreement.

The United States has imposed a series of sanctions against Chinese officials and companies in Xinjiang amid international condemnation of vast internment camps for Uighur citizens, which include allegations of rights abuses and forced sterilization. Just before leaving office, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called China’s actions in the northwest province a genocide.

China has denied any mistreatment to its Muslim minority and the authorities have denied any mass internment of Uighurs.

Write to Laurence Norman at [email protected]