Human Rights And Forced Labor Sanctions Announced

Earlier this week, the United States, the European Union, Britain, and Canada imposed sanctions on several Chinese officials for human rights abuses against the Uyghur minority in China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). China promptly retaliated. Although the U.S. has sanctioned Chinese companies and individuals in connection with allegations of forced labor and human rights abuses in the past, most notably through the use of the Department of Commerce's entity list, this is the first instance in which U.S. allies have leveled sanctions of their own simultaneously in a coordinated rollout. This is consistent with President Biden's early promise to enlist allies to confront China. In this instance, the Treasury Department sanctioned two Chinese officials, one a former Deputy Party Secretary in Xinjiang and the other the Director of the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau. The EU and Britain sanctioned two additional individuals. Canada's sanctions were the first