China announces sanctions on U.S., Canadian individuals, entity

BEIJING, March 27 (Xinhua) -- China on Saturday announced sanctions on relevant U.S. and Canadian individuals and entity, citing the two countries' recent moves of imposing unilateral, disinformation-based sanctions on relevant individuals and entity in China's Xinjiang.

According to a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson's announcement, the United States and Canada imposed unilateral sanctions on relevant individuals and entity in Xinjiang on March 22 based on rumors and disinformation.

In response, the Chinese side decides to sanction Chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Gayle Manchin, Vice Chair of the USCIRF Tony Perkins, Member of Parliament of Canada Michael Chong, and the Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development of the House of Commons of Canada.

"The individuals concerned are prohibited from entering the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao of China, and Chinese citizens and institutions are prohibited from doing business with the relevant individuals and having exchanges with the relevant entity," said the announcement.

In the meantime, China's previous sanctions on U.S. individuals who have seriously undermined China's sovereignty and interests on Xinjiang-related issues remain effective.

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.

"They must stop political manipulation on Xinjiang-related issues, stop interfering in China's internal affairs in any form and refrain from going further down the wrong path. Otherwise, they will get their fingers burnt," said the announcement.