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China Vows Retaliation after US Blacklists Companies

Flags of US and China are displayed at American International Chamber of Commerce (AICC)'s booth during China International Fair for Trade in Services in Beijing, China, May 28, 2019. (Reuters)
Flags of US and China are displayed at American International Chamber of Commerce (AICC)'s booth during China International Fair for Trade in Services in Beijing, China, May 28, 2019. (Reuters)
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China Vows Retaliation after US Blacklists Companies

Flags of US and China are displayed at American International Chamber of Commerce (AICC)'s booth during China International Fair for Trade in Services in Beijing, China, May 28, 2019. (Reuters)
Flags of US and China are displayed at American International Chamber of Commerce (AICC)'s booth during China International Fair for Trade in Services in Beijing, China, May 28, 2019. (Reuters)

China on Sunday said it will take “necessary measures” to respond to the US blacklisting of Chinese companies over their alleged role in abuses of Uyghur people and other Muslim ethnic minorities.

The Commerce Ministry said the US move constituted an “unreasonable suppression of Chinese enterprises and a serious breach of international economic and trade rules,” reported the Associated Press.

China will “take necessary measures to firmly safeguard Chinese companies’ legitimate rights and interests,” the ministry's statement said.

No details were given, but China has denied allegations of arbitrary detention and forced labor in the far western region of Xinjiang and increasingly responded to sanctions against companies and officials with its own bans on visas and financial links.

The US Commerce Department said in a statement Friday that the electronics and technology firms and other businesses helped enable “Beijing’s campaign of repression, mass detention and high-technology surveillance” against Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.

The penalties prohibit Americans from selling equipment or other goods to the firms. The United States has stepped up financial and trade penalties over China’s treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities, along with its crackdown on democracy in the semi-autonomous city of Hong Kong.

The Chinese government since 2017 has detained a million or more people in Xinjiang. Critics accuse China of operating forced labor camps and carrying out torture and coerced sterilization as it allegedly seeks to assimilate Muslim ethnic minority groups.

The US Commerce Department said 14 companies were added to its Entity List over their dealings in Xinjiang, and another five for aiding China's armed forces.

“The Department of Commerce remains firmly committed to taking strong, decisive action to target entities that are enabling human rights abuses in Xinjiang or that use US technology to fuel China’s destabilizing military modernization efforts," Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement posted on the department's website.

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Venezuela Opposition Candidate Gonzalez Leaves for Spain as Diplomatic Tensions Rise

28 July 2024, Venezuela, Caracas: The presidential candidate of the Venezuelan opposition, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, arrives at the Santo Tomas de Villanueva school to cast his vote during the presidential elections. (dpa)
28 July 2024, Venezuela, Caracas: The presidential candidate of the Venezuelan opposition, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, arrives at the Santo Tomas de Villanueva school to cast his vote during the presidential elections. (dpa)
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Venezuela Opposition Candidate Gonzalez Leaves for Spain as Diplomatic Tensions Rise

28 July 2024, Venezuela, Caracas: The presidential candidate of the Venezuelan opposition, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, arrives at the Santo Tomas de Villanueva school to cast his vote during the presidential elections. (dpa)
28 July 2024, Venezuela, Caracas: The presidential candidate of the Venezuelan opposition, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, arrives at the Santo Tomas de Villanueva school to cast his vote during the presidential elections. (dpa)

Venezuela's former presidential opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez has left for Spain in the wake of the South American country's contested election, Venezuelan and Spanish officials said on Saturday night after a day of rising diplomatic tensions.

Gonzalez, 75, who ran against President Nicolas Maduro in July, left after "voluntarily seeking refuge in the Spanish embassy in Caracas several days ago," Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez posted on Instagram.

"Edmundo Gonzalez has taken off from Caracas heading to Spain on a Spanish Air Force plane," Spain's Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares posted on X, saying Madrid was responding to a request from Gonzalez.

Gonzalez's exit from Venezuela is the latest political development since the country's election on July 28. Democracies around the world have criticized the Venezuelan government's handling of the vote, which election officials and its top court say was won by Maduro.

Venezuela's opposition say the election resulted in a resounding victory for Gonzalez, and published vote tallies online that they say show he won.

This week prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Gonzalez in connection to the online publication of the tallies, accusing him of usurping functions, falsifying public documents and conspiracy, among other charges.

Earlier on Saturday, Venezuela's government revoked Brazil's authorization to represent Argentine interests in the country, including administering the embassy where six opposition figures are sheltering.

Venezuela broke relations with Argentina after the presidential election. Brazil, like Colombia and Mexico, has asked the Venezuelan government to publish the full results of the vote.

The government has not done so and the country's electoral authority said Maduro won re-election for a third term.

In a statement, Venezuela said the decision, effective immediately, was due to proof that the embassy was being used to plan assassination attempts against Maduro and Rodriguez.

Brazil said it had received the communication that its authorization had been revoked "with surprise." Argentina said it rejected the "unilateral" decision. Both countries urged Maduro to respect the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

"Any attempt to invade or kidnap asylum seekers who remain in our official residence will be harshly condemned by the international community," Argentina said in a statement. "Actions like these reinforce the conviction that in Maduro's Venezuela, fundamental human rights are not respected."

A Brazilian diplomatic source said on Saturday afternoon that Venezuela had assured Brazil it would not invade the embassy.

In its statement, Brazil insisted it would remain in custody and defense of Argentine interests until Argentina indicated another state acceptable to Venezuela to do so.

"The Brazilian government highlights in this context, under the terms of the Vienna Conventions, the inviolability of the facilities of the Argentine diplomatic mission," it said, adding that it housed six Venezuelan asylum seekers, assets and archives.

The escalation in the spat between the South American countries was first reported by Reuters.

In March, six people sought asylum in the Argentine embassy in Caracas after a prosecutor ordered their arrest on charges including conspiracy. Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has denied the allegations against her collaborators.

On Friday night, some opposition members in the Argentine residence reported on their X accounts that the building was under surveillance and had no electricity. They posted videos showing men dressed in black and patrols from the government intelligence agency, SEBIN.

Argentina's Foreign Ministry asked the International Criminal Court on Friday to issue an arrest warrant against Maduro and other senior government officials for events that occurred after the elections.