China Sanctions US Officials, Including Senators Rubio, Cruz, over Uighur Issue

Other officials targeted by the restrictions are Sam Brownback, United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, and Representative Chris Smith, according to RIA Novosti.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Hua Chunying announced the decision during a daily briefing, adding the “sanctions” against overall four officials would take effect starting on Monday.

The US Congress passed legislation in May calling for sanctions against Chinese officials for the alleged detention and torture of Uighur Muslims in Xianjing, a territory in China's Northwestern part that is home to many ethnic minority groups, including the Turkic Uighur people.

The move came as the Human Rights Watch recently accused China of abusing about 13 million Turkic Muslims, including Uighurs and ethnic Kazakhs, in the Xinjiang region. Beijing has denied the allegations of abuse and stressed it would stand up in defence and take counter-moves against any US restrictions.

In late June, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged China to "cease its campaign of repression" against "Uighur and other minority women", hours after The Associated Press, citing an advanced copy of research conducted by China scholar Adrian Zenz, reported that the Chinese government has been carrying out practices of forced birth control in order to curb the Muslim population in Xinjiang. 

The Chinese Foreign Ministry promptly condemned the report as "fake news", and Spokesman Zhao Lijian told The AP that everyone residing in the country, "regardless of whether they’re an ethnic minority or Han Chinese, must follow and act in accordance with the law”.