On the 21st, the State Department imposed restrictions on entry into the United States by restricting visa issuance to Chinese officials involved in oppression, including ethnic minorities and human rights activists, both inside and outside China.
Sanctions target Chinese officials believed to be responsible for or complicit in policies and measures that repressed religious leaders, members of ethnic minorities, dissidents, human rights activists and journalists both in China and abroad.
The State Department did not disclose specifically who the sanctions were or how many.
However, as Secretary of State Tony Blincoln urged the Chinese government to stop the genocide in Xinjiang, Tibet’s repressive policies and the suppression of basic freedoms in Hong Kong, it suggests that these figures may be related to human rights issues.
“The United States reaffirms its support for those who courageously speak up despite threats of retaliation,” Blincoln said. We will cooperate with the international community to ask questions.”
The Associated Press said the move was in addition to visa sanctions imposed during the Donald Trump administration for human rights violations in Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Tibet.
In connection with China’s case of human rights abuses abroad, the Justice Department has indicted a former Chinese National Security Agency agent for trying to prevent the election of a Chinese dissident who recently ran for the U.S. Congress.
In 2020, eight people were charged with coercing a New Jersey man the Chinese government was pursuing to return to China.