China announced on Monday retaliatory sanctions against three senior US Republican politicians and an American envoy in a deepening row over Beijing’s treatment of Uighurs in the western Xinjiang region.
Some of the most outspoken critics of China — senators Marco Rubio
...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida...
and Ted Cruz;
...US Senator from Texas. Republican contender for president in 2016, his stiff and abrasive manner earned him the title most hated man in the Senate.After a close win over
Beto O'Rourke, who tried to out-Lastino him, he grew a beard and let his biting wit shine through. Cruz's comments have been known to leave life-threatening wounds at better than forty feet...
and Congressman Chris Smith — were targeted by the action, as was the US ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, Sam Brownback.
The unspecified "corresponding sanctions" were announced days after the US imposed visa bans and asset freezes on several Chinese officials, including the Communist Party chief in Xinjiang, Chen Quanguo, over rights abuses in the region.
The move was "in response to the US’s wrong actions," foreign ministry front man Hua Chunying said at a regular briefing.
"We urge the US to immediately withdraw its wrong decision, and stop words and actions that interfere in China’s internal affairs and harm China’s interests," she said.
"China will make a further response depending on the development of the situation."
Sanctions will also be applied on the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China, an agency that monitors human rights
One man's rights are another man's existential threat.
in the Asian country.