US Senator Marco Rubio sponsored legislation to punish China's actions in Xinjiang. AFP
US Senator Marco Rubio sponsored legislation to punish China's actions in Xinjiang. AFP
US Senator Marco Rubio sponsored legislation to punish China's actions in Xinjiang. AFP
US Senator Marco Rubio sponsored legislation to punish China's actions in Xinjiang. AFP

China sanctions US senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz in row over Uighur Muslims


  • English
  • Arabic

China announced "corresponding sanctions" against the United States on Monday, after Washington penalised senior Chinese officials over the treatment of minority Uighur Muslims in the western region of Xinjiang.

China's move came as relations between the world's two biggest economic powerhouses slumped over disagreements on issues including the coronavirus pandemic, trade, Huawei, and a sweeping national security law imposed on Hong Kong.

The sanctions targeted US senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, US Representative Chris Smith, Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback, and the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China.

Mr Rubio and Mr Cruz have both sponsored legislation that would punish China's actions in Xinjiang. Mr Smith has also been a vocal critic of China on issues ranging from Xinjiang to Hong Kong and the coronavirus.

All three are members of the Republican Party.

The Congressional-Executive Commission on China monitors human rights and the development of the rule of law and submits an annual report to Mr Trump and Congress.

"The US actions seriously interfere in China's internal affairs, seriously violate the basic norms of international relations and seriously damage Sino-US relations," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said.

"China will make further responses based on how the situation develops."

She did not elaborate.

UN experts and activists said at least a million ethnic Uighurs and other Muslims are held in detention centres in Xinjiang.

China describes the facilities as training centres helping to stamp out terrorism and extremism and give people new skills.

Washington announced its measures against Chinese officials including the Communist Party secretary of Xinjiang, Chen Quanguo, on Thursday. The sanctions were imposed under the Global Magnitsky Act, which allows the US government to target human rights violators worldwide by freezing any assets in the US, prohibiting Americans from doing business with them, and banning them and their immediate family from travelling to the US.

Mr Rubio described the move as "long overdue" and said that more steps were needed.

"For far too long, Chinese officials have not been held accountable for committing atrocities that likely constitute crimes against humanity," he said.

White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogenChromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxideUltramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica contentOphiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on landOlivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour

BRAZIL%20SQUAD
%3Cp%3EGoalkeepers%3A%20Alisson%2C%20Ederson%2C%20Weverton%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EDefenders%3A%20Dani%20Alves%2C%20Marquinhos%2C%20Thiago%20Silva%2C%20Eder%20Militao%20%2C%20Danilo%2C%20Alex%20Sandro%2C%20Alex%20Telles%2C%20Bremer.%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EMidfielders%3A%20Casemiro%2C%20Fred%2C%20Fabinho%2C%20Bruno%20Guimaraes%2C%20Lucas%20Paqueta%2C%20Everton%20Ribeiro.%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EForwards%3A%20Neymar%2C%20Vinicius%20Junior%2C%20Richarlison%2C%20Raphinha%2C%20Antony%2C%20Gabriel%20Jesus%2C%20Gabriel%20Martinelli%2C%20Pedro%2C%20Rodrygo%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
SPECS

Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now

Company profile

Date started: December 24, 2018

Founders: Omer Gurel, chief executive and co-founder and Edebali Sener, co-founder and chief technology officer

Based: Dubai Media City

Number of employees: 42 (34 in Dubai and a tech team of eight in Ankara, Turkey)

Sector: ConsumerTech and FinTech

Cashflow: Almost $1 million a year

Funding: Series A funding of $2.5m with Series B plans for May 2020

England XI for second Test

Rory Burns, Keaton Jennings, Ben Stokes, Joe Root (c), Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Ben Foakes (wk), Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Jack Leach, James Anderson

The biog

Favourite hobby: I love to sing but I don’t get to sing as much nowadays sadly.

Favourite book: Anything by Sidney Sheldon.

Favourite movie: The Exorcist 2. It is a big thing in our family to sit around together and watch horror movies, I love watching them.

Favourite holiday destination: The favourite place I have been to is Florence, it is a beautiful city. My dream though has always been to visit Cyprus, I really want to go there.

The Al Barzakh Festival takes place on Wednesday and Thursday at 7.30pm in the Red Theatre, NYUAD, Saadiyat Island. Tickets cost Dh105 for adults from platinumlist.net

MATCH INFO

Wales 1 (Bale 45 3')

Croatia 1 (Vlasic 09')

Scoreline:

Everton 4

Richarlison 13'), Sigurdsson 28', ​​​​​​​Digne 56', Walcott 64'

Manchester United 0

Man of the match: Gylfi Sigurdsson (Everton)

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs

Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol

Power: 154bhp

Torque: 250Nm

Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option 

Price: From Dh79,600

On sale: Now

Innotech Profile

Date started: 2013

Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari

Based: Muscat, Oman

Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies

Size: 15 full-time employees

Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing 

Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now. 

GROUPS AND FIXTURES

Group A
UAE, Italy, Japan, Spain

Group B
Egypt, Iran, Mexico, Russia

Tuesday
4.15pm
: Italy v Japan
5.30pm: Spain v UAE
6.45pm: Egypt v Russia
8pm: Iran v Mexico