China imposes sanctions on Canadian institutions active in the Uyghur and Tibet issues

China said Sunday it was taking countermeasures against two Canadian institutions and 20 people involved in human rights issues related to the Uyghurs and Tibet.

The measures, which took effect on Saturday, include asset freezes and entry bans, and targets include the Uyghur Rights Defense Project in Canada and the Canadian-Tibetan Commission, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on its website.

Human rights groups accuse Beijing of widespread abuses against the Uighurs, a Muslim ethnic minority with a population of about 10 million in the western Xinjiang region, including the mass use of forced labor in camps. Beijing denies committing any violations.

China took control of Tibet in 1950 in what it described as a “peaceful liberation” from feudal slavery. But international human rights groups and exiles have routinely condemned what they call China’s oppressive rule in Tibetan regions.

As for the two institutions, China said it would freeze “their movable and immovable property and other types of property within China’s territory.” It freezes the assets of 15 people in the Uyghur Foundation and five in the Tibet Commission in China, and bans them from entering China, including Hong Kong and Macau.

Canada Recently announced sanctions on several Chinese officials, citing “serious human rights violations.”

“Canada is deeply concerned about human rights violations in Xinjiang and Tibet and against those who practice Falun Gong,” Foreign Minister Mélanie Jolie said in a statement earlier this month.

Phone calls to the Canadian Embassy in Beijing were not answered. Reuters did not receive an immediate response from human rights groups or Global Affairs Canada.