China sanctions Conservative member of Parliament Michael Chong, federal subcommittee

China has imposed sanctions against a Canadian politician and a federal subcommittee in response to sanctions levied by Canada on Chinese officials for abuses against Uyghur Muslims.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China said Saturday in a news release it has banned Conservative MP Michael Chong from entering the country and prohibited any Chinese citizen from doing business with him.

China said it has also imposed sanctions against a Parliamentary subcommittee on international human rights.

“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,” the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement.

“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.”

The sanctions come after Canada joined other countries on Monday in imposing sanctions against four Chinese officials and a Chinese entity over human rights violations against Uyghur Muslims in the country’s Xinjiang region.

Global Affairs Canada said mounting evidence points to state-led abuses by Chinese authorities against more than one million Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities on the basis of their religion and ethnicity. The department said the abuses include “political re-education, forced labour, torture and forced sterilization.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday the sanctions were imposed on China over “the gross and systematic human rights abuses taking place in the region.”

Chong, the Tories’ foreign affairs critic, said Saturday he has a duty to call out China’s “genocide” of Uyghur Muslims. “We who live freely in democracies under the rule of law must speak for the voiceless,” Chong said on Twitter.

“If that means China sanctions me, I’ll wear it as a badge of honour.”

Global Affairs Canada said it will comment on the matter shortly.

China also said Saturday it imposed sanctions against the chair and vice chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedoms.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 27, 2021.

Liam Casey, The Canadian Press