China said on Sunday it was taking action against two Canadian institutions and 20 people involved in human rights issues affecting the Uyghurs and Tibetans.
The measures, which came into effect on Saturday, include asset freezes and entry bans and targets include Canada's Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project and the Canada-Tibet Committee, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on its website.
Rights groups accuse Beijing of widespread abuse of the Uyghurs, a Muslim minority of about 10 million in the western region of Xinjiang, including forced labor in camps. Beijing denies the abuse.
China took control of Tibet in 1950 in what it described as “peaceful liberation” from feudal serfdom. International human rights organizations and exiles have been constantly criticizing what they call China's repressive regime in Tibet.
Of the two facilities, China said it was freezing their “movable property, immovable property and other types of property in China's territory.” It freezes the assets in China of 15 people from the Uyghur center and five from the Tibetan committee, preventing them from entering China, including Hong Kong and Macau.
Canada recently announced sanctions against several Chinese officials, citing “serious human rights violations.”
“Canada is deeply concerned about human rights violations in Xinjiang and Tibet and those who practice Falun Gong,” said Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs in a statement released earlier this month.
Calls to the Canadian embassy in Beijing were not returned. Reuters did not immediately receive a response from rights groups or Global Affairs Canada.
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