European Union (EU) ambassadors agreed on Wednesday to impose sanctions on Chinese officials for alleged human rights abuses against the Chinese Uyghur population, several media outlets reported.
Two diplomats told Reuters that the ambassadors supported travel bans and the freezing of assets for four people and one entity.
The names of the people and the sanctioned entity will not be made known until the EU gives final approval to a list of sanctions against people and entities from six countries, several diplomats told Politico. The EU is scheduled to consider the sanctions package on March 22.
“Restrictive measures were taken against serious human rights violations and abuses,” an EU diplomat told Reuters.
The move against China comes when the country has come under scrutiny to deal with the Uighur Muslim minority. Experts say at least one million are detained in the Xinjiang region. The Netherlands, Canada and the United States have designated China’s conduct as genocide.
But China rejects the label and has repeatedly denied allegations of ill-treatment of the population, claiming that detention camps are being used to combat religious extremism.
The Chinese mission in the EU responded to reports by publishing Tuesday’s comments by its EU ambassador, Zhang Ming, calling for the bloc to reconsider.
“The sanctions are confrontational,” the Chinese mission said on Twitter. “We want dialogue, not confrontation. We ask the EU to think twice. If some insist on confrontation, we will not back down, as we have no choice but to fulfill our responsibilities to the people. “