The United States, the European Union, Britain and Canada imposed sanctions on Chinese officials on Monday for human rights abuses in Xinjiang, the first such coordinated Western action against Beijing under new US President Joe Biden.
Beijing hit back immediately with punitive measures against the EU that appeared broader, including European lawmakers, diplomats, institutes and families, and banning their businesses from trading with China.
Western governments are seeking to hold Beijing accountable for mass detentions of Muslim Uighurs in northwestern China, where the United States says China is committing genocide. China denies all accusations of abuse.
The coordinated effort appeared to be early fruit in a concerted US diplomatic push to confront China in league with allies, a core element of Biden's still evolving China policy.
Senior US administration officials have said they are in daily contact with governments in Europe on China-related issues, something they call the "Europe roadshow."
"Amid growing international condemnation, (China) continues to commit genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in statement ahead of meetings with EU and NATO ministers in Brussels this week.
Canada's foreign ministry said: "Mounting evidence points to systemic, state-led human rights violations by Chinese authorities."
Activists and UN rights experts say at least 1 million Muslims have been detained in camps in Xinjiang. The activists and some Western politicians accuse China of using torture, forced labor and sterilizations. China says its camps provide vocational training and are needed to fight extremism.
The European Union was the first to impose sanctions on Monday on four Chinese officials, including a top security director, and one entity, a decision later mirrored by Britain and Canada.
Those also targeted by the United States were Chen Mingguo, director of the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau and another senior official in the region, Wang Junzheng.
The United States had already last year designated for sanctions the top official in Xinjiang, Chen Quanguo, who was not targeted by the other Western allies on Monday, to avoid a larger diplomatic dispute, experts and diplomats said.
The foreign ministers of Canada and Britain issued a joint statement with Blinken, saying the three were united in demanding that Beijing end its "repressive practices" in Xinjiang.
Evidence of abuses was "overwhelming", including satellite imagery, eyewitness testimony, and the Chinese government's own documents, they said.
Separately, the foreign ministers of Australia and New Zealand issued a statement expressing "grave concerns about the growing number of credible reports of severe human rights abuses against ethnic Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang" and welcoming the measures announced by Canada, the European Union, Britain and the United States.
