This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission.
China has announced “countermeasures” against Canadian groups and individuals two weeks after Canada imposed sanctions on senior Chinese officials in early December over human rights concerns.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release on Saturday that it was freezing the assets in China of Canada’s Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project and the Canada Tibet Committee.
The ministry, citing China’s Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law, said organizations and individuals in China were prohibited from conducting transactions or cooperating with those groups. They would also be barred from travel to China, including Hong Kong and Macau.
The ministry in its announcement did not refer directly to Canada’s Dec. 10 sanctions on eight former and current senior Chinese officials over what Canada said was their involvement in grave human rights violations in Tibet and Xinjiang and against followers of the Falun Gong spiritual sect.
At the time, the Chinese ministry said Canada “smeared and slandered” China and interfered in its internal affairs with its “illegal” sanctions and “clumsy political theatrics.”
Canada is not alone. Western governments have sanctioned China over human rights abuses in Xinjiang and Tibet, citing reports of mass detentions, forced labor, cultural suppression of Uyghurs and Tibetans, and crackdowns on religious and political freedoms. These measures aim to pressure China to uphold international human rights standards.
The United States, for instance, had earlier imposed sanctions on all eight of the Chinese officials that Canada sanctioned, for their connections to serious human rights violations.
Among the most prominent individuals sanctioned by the North Americans was Chen Quanguo, who served as the Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary of the Tibet Autonomous Region from 2011 to 2016 and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region from 2016 to 2021.
Another sanctioned official is Wu Yingjie, who was the Communist Party Secretary of Tibet from 2016 to 2021.
‘Badge of honor’
Mehmet Tohti, the executive director of Canada’s Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project, publicly said that the Chinese government’s sanctioning of the group and 15 individuals, including himself, was “a badge of honor” that served as a motivational force for them to continue their work.
Tohti also said that the sanctions wouldn’t affect him because he has no personal wealth or property in China and no intention of visiting the country.
Sherap Therchin, executive director of the Canada Tibet Committee, a Montreal-based advocacy group that promotes human rights and democratic freedoms of the Tibetan people, said that the sanctioning of the group and five of its members was an acknowledgment of their work for Tibet.
“This move actually strengthens our resolve to keep on this path and continue to advocate for policies that bring about a just and equitable solution to the harsh occupation and repression now ongoing in Tibet,” he told Radio Free Asia.
The Canada Tibet Committee also issued a public statement calling on the Canadian government to ensure protection for the sanctioned individuals in Canada or other democratic entities.
The Canadian government did not immediately respond to RFA’s request with a comment.
Growing impact
Shane Yi, a researcher with the nongovernmental organization Chinese Human Rights Defenders, said China’s sanctions against the Canadian groups suggested they were having some impact.
“This not only underscores China’s intent to escalate its suppression efforts but also demonstrates the growing impact of these organizations’ work,” Yi said.
China and Canada have had particularly fraught relations in recent years, largely stemming from the 2018 arrest in Canada of a senior executive of China’s technology giant Huawei.
The executive, Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, was detained in Canada for nearly three years pending U.S. extradition hearings related to suspicion of illegal business dealings with Iran. She flew home to China in 2021 after reaching an agreement with U.S. prosecutors.
