The European Parliament says China has lifted sanctions it imposed on 5 EU lawmakers in 2021
BRUSSELS (AP) — China has lifted sanctions it imposed on five European Union lawmakers in retaliation against the bloc’s defense of Uyghur Muslims in the far western Xinjiang region, the EU parliament said on Wednesday.
Beijing imposed a series of measures in March 2021 after the EU, Britain, Canada and the United States launched coordinated sanctions against officials in China over human rights abuses against Uyhgurs in Xinjiang.
Five EU lawmakers were targeted as part of China’s retaliation: Michael Gahler, Raphael Glucksmann, Ilhan Kyuchyuk and Miriam Lexmann, as well as Reinhard Butikofer, who is no longer a member of the parliament.
They were banned from entering Chinese territory and the move led the parliament to halt all official dialogue with China and hold up an investment deal that EU lawmakers had been due to endorse.
The sanctions lifting was negotiated by European Parliament President Roberta Metsola. It comes amid an easing of tensions between the EU and China since U.S. President Donald Trump hiked tariffs against them on April 2.
“Our relationship with China remains complex and multi-faceted. The best way to approach it is through engagement and dialogue,” Metsola said in a statement after informing senior lawmakers of the breakthrough.
But the senior lawmakers insisted that Beijing’s move “does not mean the European Parliament will overlook persistent challenges in EU-China relations,” and they vowed that the assembly will “remain a strong defender” of human rights.
The Uyghurs are a Turkic, majority Muslim ethnicity native to Xinjiang. After decades of conflict over suppression of their cultural identity, Beijing launched a brutal crackdown on the Uyghurs that some Western governments deem a genocide.