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PARIS (AFP) – France, Germany and other EU nations called on Chinese ambassadors on Tuesday (March 23) to protest the sanctions imposed by Beijing against its citizens, as China and Europe clashed over allegations of rights abuses. against the Uighur Muslim minority in China.
France also reprimanded the Chinese envoy for unacceptable behavior after he published a series of tweets directed at French lawmakers and an investigator.
The diplomatic dispute erupted after the EU, Britain and Canada blacklisted four former and current officials in the Xinjiang region on Monday, while Washington, which had already sanctioned two of those officials in July 2020 , spread them out to the other two.
The tensions come as the EU seeks to formulate a strategy on China at a time when tensions between Beijing and Washington are emerging as the world’s number one geopolitical problem.
The EU and China approved a major investment pact “in principle” in December that Brussels hopes will open up lucrative opportunities despite human rights concerns.
Italy also said on Tuesday it would follow its EU peers and summon the Chinese ambassador over retaliatory sanctions from Beijing.
“The Chinese ambassador in Rome (would be) summoned tomorrow … in connection with the sanctions imposed by Beijing on the European Union,” the Italian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
Italy was until recently viewed as one of the most China-friendly countries in Europe, largely due to its decision in 2019 to subscribe to China’s flagship infrastructure development Belt and Road Initiative, despite the deep suspicions that it exists in Washington and Brussels.
China has angrily rejected claims of a crackdown on Uighurs and responded with entry bans on 10 Europeans, including five members of the European Parliament, as well as two EU bodies and two think tanks.
In France, China’s ambassador, Lu Shaye, targeted French lawmakers hoping to visit Taiwan, as well as Mr. Antoine Bondaz, a China specialist from the think tank of the Foundation for Strategic Research.
In Twitter posts, Lu mocked Bondaz as a “little thug”, a “crazed hyena” and an “ideological troll” with “anti-Chinese” stances after Bondaz complained about Chinese pressure on French lawmakers who they hoped to visit Taiwan.
China views Taiwan as a separatist province that must be reunited, by force if necessary.
“The embassy’s methods and the tone of its public comments were completely unacceptable and exceeded all limits commonly accepted by any embassy in the world,” said a French Foreign Ministry official, who asked not to be named, after Lu appeared. Tuesday at the Foreign Ministry after the convocation.
The subpoena had been issued on Monday, but in violation of standard diplomatic protocol, Mr. Lu took some time to comply with the demand.
Europe’s Minister Clement Beaune said Tuesday that Lu had rejected the initial request for talks, and the Chinese embassy in Paris cited scheduling problems in a Twitter post.
“Neither France nor Europe are a doormat,” Minister Beaune warned on France Info radio. “When you are summoned as an ambassador, you pay a visit to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
Germany, a key EU advocate for strong ties with Beijing, asked Chinese Ambassador Wu Ken for urgent talks at the Foreign Ministry.
The envoy was told “that China’s sanctions against members of the European Parliament, scientists and political institutions, as well as non-governmental organizations, represent an inappropriate escalation that unnecessarily strains ties between the EU and China,” the ministry said.
In Brussels, a Belgian government source said the Chinese ambassador was expected to attend a meeting on Tuesday on sanctions against legislator Samuel Cogolati, who proposed a motion in Parliament to describe the crackdown on Uighurs as “genocide.” “.
Human rights groups believe that at least one million Uighurs and other minorities, mostly Muslim, have been imprisoned in camps in the northwest region, where authorities are also accused of forcibly sterilizing women and imposing forced labor.
China has strongly denied the forced labor allegations involving Uyghurs in Xinjiang, saying that training programs, job schemes and better education have helped root out extremism in the region.
But Beijing has repeatedly faced allegations of committing genocide from activists, some legislatures and also, most notably, former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry also summoned the Beijing envoy as one of its legislators was the target of the imposed sanctions.
“China was urged to address human rights violations rather than imposing countermeasures,” it said in a statement.
And in Copenhagen, China’s ambassador, Feng Tie, was summoned to appear before the Foreign Ministry after Beijing sanctioned the Alliance of Democracies, a non-profit organization founded by the former prime minister of Denmark and former head of the NATO, Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
Similar measures were taken in Sweden, with Swedish researcher Bjorn Jerden among those sanctioned.
“Unwavering support for human rights remains unchanged, which was communicated today by Secretary of State Rydberg to the Chinese ambassador,” Foreign Minister Ann Linde wrote on Twitter, calling the sanctions unacceptable.
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