On 22 March, the European Union (EU) sanctioned officials from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) for the first time since the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre. The Council of the EU took the action in response to alleged human rights abuses in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) against Uyghur Muslims. Since 2014, the Uyghurs have suffered persecution with the PRC accused of detaining around one million Uyghurs without due legal process. Those detained are reportedly subject to political indoctrination, ill-treatment, and torture.

EU INTERVENTION

For months, the PRC has been under the spotlight for human rights abuses in the XUAR despite attempts to restrict international observers’ access to the region. Chinese officials have dismissed international concerns as interference in its “internal affairs”. Nevertheless, the EU, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America (US) have continued to condemn the PRC's actions and stand with the Uyghur minority. Canada and the US have both labelled the PRC's actions in the XUAR as “genocide”.

On 22 March, the Council of the EU decided to impose sanctions against four current and former Chinese officials operating in the XUAR and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), which is accused of using forced Uyghur labour. The officials are Zhu Hailun, allegedly the architect of mass surveillance against Uyghurs; Wang Junzheng, the communist party secretary for the XPCC; and Wang Mingshan and Chen Mingguo, both accused of perpetrating large-scale arbitrary detentions and degrading treatment upon Uyghurs. The Council proceeded under the EU's global human rights sanctions regime, a new instrument adopted on December 2020, which allows the bloc to target individuals, organisations, and associations—including state and non-state actors—who are responsible for or involved in serious human rights violations.The targeted officials will be subject to an asset freeze in the EU, a travel ban to the EU, and a ban on receiving any EU funds.

THE PRC RESPONSE

The PRC response was not long in coming. On the same day, a PRC Foreign Ministry spokesperson announced retaliatory sanctions against EU persons and entities. The PRC alleges that the accusations of genocide are “based on nothing but lies and disinformation, disregards and distorts facts, grossly interferes in China's internal affairs, flagrantly breaches international law and basic norms governing international relations, and severely undermines China-EU relations”. PRC sanctions cover ten individuals and four EU entities for “severely harm[ing] China's sovereignty and interests and maliciously spread[ing] lies and disinformation”. Those sanctioned are Reinhard Butikofer, Michael Gahler, Raphaël Glucksmann, Ilhan Kyuchyuk, and Miriam Lexmann of the European Parliament; Sjoerd Wiemer Sjoerdsma of the Dutch Parliament; Samuel Cogolati of the Belgian Federal Parliament; Dovile Sakaliene of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania; German scholar Adrian Zenz; Swedish scholar Björn Jerdén; the Political and Security Committee of the Council of the EU; the Subcommittee on Human Rights of the European Parliament; the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Germany; and the Alliance of Democracies Foundation in Denmark. The sanctions prohibit the named individuals or their families from entering mainland China, Hong Kong, or Macau. In addition, companies and institutions associated with them are restricted from doing business in China.

EU-CHINA: VALUES BEFORE TRADE

Earlier this year, the EU and the PRC agreed the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI), which aims to increase cross-border investment between the world’s largest economies. The agreement was hailed as a landmark in EU-PRC relations, said President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen.  This optimism has now been overshadowed by retaliatory sanctions. Neither the Council of the EU nor the European Parliament have ratified the CAI yet. In the light of recent dispute, ratification may not go ahead with European Parliament President David Sassoli saying the PRC's decision "will have consequences". The EU has put aside its short-term economic interests for the sake of human rights and democracy, a welcome decision that represents a ray of hope in this hard and difficult period.

Giuseppe Scuccimarra holds a BA in International Relations and European Studies and a Master’s in Human Rights and Multi-Level Governance from the University of Padua, Italy. He is interested in human rights, rule of law and democracy, and specifically how these manifest in sport and business.

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