China sanctions wife of Joe Manchin, other US and Canadian officials

China has placed sanctions on a handful of U.S. and Canadian officials in a tit for tat response amid growing tensions over the suppression of ethnic and religious minorities in Xinjiang province.

Gayle Manchin, chair of the U.S. government’s advisory Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) and the wife of Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), as well as Tony Perkins, vice chair for USCIRF, were sanctioned, Reuters reported.

Michael Chong, vice chair of the Canadian Parliament’s Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development (FAAE), and the eight members of the FAAE Subcommittee on International Human Rights have also been sanctioned. 

“The Chinese government is firmly determined to safeguard its national sovereignty, security and development interests, and urges the relevant parties to clearly understand the situation and redress their mistakes,” China’s foreign ministry said when announcing the sanctions, according to Reuters. 

Those that China sanctioned will not be allowed in China, Hong Kong or Macau, and Chinese citizens and businesses are not allowed to communicate with the individuals.

The U.S. coordinated sanctions against China with Canada, the European Union and the United Kingdom due to China’s alleged human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims.

“These designations include Wang Junzheng, the Secretary of the Party Committee of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), and Chen Mingguo, Director of the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau (XPSB),” the Treasury Department said when the sanctions were announced. “The United States is committed to using the full breadth of its financial powers to promote accountability for the serious human rights abuses occurring in Xinjiang.”

“They must stop political manipulation on Xinjiang-related issues, stop interfering in China’s internal affairs in any form and refrain from going farther down the wrong path. Otherwise they will get their fingers burnt,” the ministry said Saturday, according to Reuters.

China has denied accusations of any human rights abuses in the country. 

Some countries, including the U.S., have labeled China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims a genocide.