On Sunday, China said it was taking countermeasures against two Canadian institutions and 20 people involved in human rights issues involving Uyghurs and Tibet.
The measures, which came into force on Saturday, include asset freezes and entry bans, and the targets include the Canadian Uyghur Rights Project and the Canada-Tibet Committee, China's foreign ministry announces on its website.
Right-wing organizations accuse Beijing of widespread mistreatment of Uighurs, a mainly Muslim ethnic minority of about 10 million in the western Xinjiang region, including the massive use of forced labor in camps. Beijing denies any abuses.
China took control of Tibet in 1950 in what it describes as “peaceful liberation” from feudal serfdom. However, international human rights groups and exiles routinely condemn what they call China's oppressive rule in Tibetan areas.
In the case of both institutions, China said it was freezing their “movable property, immovable property and other types of property in China's territory.” Freezes the assets in China of 15 people in a Uyghur institution and five in the Tibet Committee, banning them from entering China, including Hong Kong and Macau.
Canada recently announced sanctions against several Chinese officials, citing “serious human rights violations.”
“Canada is deeply concerned about human rights violations in Xinjiang and Tibet and human rights violations against Falun Gong practitioners,” Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, said in a statement earlier this month.
Calls to the Canadian embassy in Beijing went unanswered. Reuters did not immediately receive a response from the legal groups or Global Affairs Canada.