EU ministers expected to approve renewal of sanctions on Chinese officials
Sanctions on Chinese officials are expected to be formally approved for renewal by EU ministers in Brussels over alleged human rights abuses.
The renewal will see measures including freezing of assets and travel bans roll into March of next year, one year after they were first imposed.
In response to accusations of systematic Chinese human rights abuses against the Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang, the EU imposed sanctions will be the first significant restrictive measures between the two entities since the 1989 arms embargo after Tiananmen Square.
Expect the sanctions to be renewed, especially in light of new documents linking China’s top leadership to the genocide in Xinjiang. In response, China has said it will not ratify the December 2020 Chinese-EU investment agreement until the EU lifts the sanctions, describing them as illegitimate internal interference.
Chinese officials are not the EU’s only target for sanctions. Impugned individuals from Russia, Libya, South Sudan and North Korea are similarly expected to face renewed restrictions under the EU Human Rights Sanctions Regime. The regime is representative of a shift in international human rights protection mechanisms, from problematic state-based sanctions to individual-based ones which avoid disrupting and reprimanding larger populations for the conduct of specific violators.
Wake up smarter with an assessment of the stories that will make headlines in the next 24 hours. Download The Daily Brief.
