December 29, 2023
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning gestures during a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing, on July 26, 2023. China says it is banning a United States research company and two analysts who have reported extensively on claims of human rights abuses committed against Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups native to the country's far northwestern region of Xinjiang. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)
Cited article by AP News
HRRC strongly opposes China's imposition of sanctions, which constitute apparent violations of freedom of expression and the right to report on human rights issues.
News Brief
China has announced the ban of Los Angeles-based research firm Kharon, its director of investigations, Edmund Xu, and human rights analyst Nicole Morgret, associated with the Center for Advanced Defense Studies. The ban includes travel restrictions to China, freezing of assets or properties in the country, and prohibition of transactions or cooperation with them by Chinese organizations and individuals. The Chinese Foreign Ministry stated that these measures are in retaliation for a U.S. government report on human rights in Xinjiang, where Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups face alleged human rights abuses. Morgret, in a June 2022 paper, highlighted the Chinese government's industrialization efforts in Xinjiang as a tool for coercive assimilation through a forced labor regime.
China, consistently denying such allegations, asserts that facilities criticized for human rights abuses were meant for countering extremism and providing job skills. The U.S. has imposed sanctions on Chinese officials, including visa bans, in response to these allegations. The recent ban on Kharon and its analysts reflects China's ongoing dispute with the U.S. over human rights issues, revealing a broader pattern of tensions between the two nations. The Chinese government's restrictive control on information from Xinjiang and its robust responses to international criticism underscore the challenges in addressing allegations of human rights violations in the region.