China’s embassy in Washington condemned the US move. (Representative)
Washington:
The United States on Friday imposed broad human rights-related sanctions on dozens of people and entities linked to China, Myanmar, North Korea and Bangladesh and added Chinese artificial intelligence company Sensetime Group to an investment blacklist.
Canada and the United Kingdom joined the United States in imposing sanctions related to human rights abuses in Myanmar, while Washington also imposed the first new sanctions on North Korea under the administration of President Joe Biden and Myanmar in actions marking Human Rights Day. targeted military organizations. ,
Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Ademo said: “Our actions today, especially in partnership with the United Kingdom and Canada, send a message that democracies around the world will take action against those who abuse state power and repress.” Statement.
China’s embassy in Washington called the US move a “serious interference in China’s internal affairs” and a “serious violation of basic norms governing international relations”. Embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu said it would cause “serious damage to Sino-US relations” and urged Washington to rescind the decision.
The North Korean mission to the United Nations and the Washington embassies of Myanmar and Bangladesh did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The measures are the latest in sanctions timed to coincide with Biden’s two-day virtual Summit for Democracy, where he announced initiatives to strengthen democracy around the world and support for pro-democracy legislation in the United States.
Biden said on Friday that the commitments made by more than 100 world leaders at the summit will backfire against growing autocracy around the world, fighting corruption and promoting human rights.
“This is going to help seed fertile ground for democracy around the world,” he said in a speech concluding the summit. The Treasury on Friday added Chinese artificial intelligence company Sensetime to a list of “Chinese military-industrial complex companies”, accusing it of developing facial recognition programs that target ethnic Uighurs with a specific focus on identifying them. ethnicity can be determined. As a result, the company would come under investment restrictions for US investors.
Sensetime is close to selling 1.5 billion shares in an initial public offering (IPO).
Following news of Treasury sanctions earlier this week, the company began discussing the fate of a planned $767 million offering with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said.
Sensetime said in a statement on Saturday that it “strongly opposes the designation and allegations made in this regard,” calling the allegations “baseless.”
“We have complied with applicable laws and regulations in relation to our business in all material respects where we do business,” the company said.
UN experts and rights groups estimate that more than a million people, mainly Uighurs and members of other Muslim minorities, were detained in a vast system of camps in China’s far-western region of Xinjiang in recent years Is.
China denies abuses in Xinjiang, but the US government and several rights groups say Beijing is carrying out genocide there.
Myanmar, North Korea
The Treasury said it was banning two Myanmar military entities and an organization that provides reserves for the military
The Directorate of Defense Industries, one of the target entities, makes weapons for the military and police that have been used in brutal crackdowns on opponents of the military’s February 1 coup.
The Treasury also targeted four regional chief ministers, including Myo Sway Win, who leads the administration of the junta in the Bago region, where the Treasury said at least 82 people were killed in a single day in April.
Canada imposed sanctions against four entities affiliated with Myanmar’s military government, while the United Kingdom imposed new sanctions against the military.
Myanmar plunged into crisis when the military overthrew leader Aung San Suu Kyi and his government on 1 February, sparking daily protests in towns and cities and fighting along the border between the military and ethnic minority rebels .
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) monitoring group, junta forces trying to crush the opposition have killed more than 1,300 people.
Campaign group Global Witness said the measures fell short of targeting Myanmar’s natural gas industry, which was a major source of foreign exchange for the junta, and “unlikely to materially affect the military junta’s bottom line”. Was.”
The Treasury also blacklisted North Korea’s Central Public Prosecutor’s Office, as well as appointed former Social Security Minister and most recently Minister of the People’s Armed Forces Ri Yong Gil.
It also targeted a Russian university for facilitating the export of workers from North Korea. North Korea has long called for the lifting of US and international sanctions imposed on its weapons programs and denounced US criticism of its human rights record as evidence of a hostile policy against it. The Biden administration has repeatedly called on North Korea to engage in talks on its nuclear and missile programs, without success.
The US State Department on Friday also barred 12 people from traveling to the United States, including officials from China, Belarus and Sri Lanka.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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