China on Monday announced sanctions against a number of U.S. officials, including Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, in retaliation for legislation intended to punish senior Chinese officials over Beijing’s alleged treatment of minority Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang, according to multiple reports.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the sanctions against the U.S. officials, would begin on Monday. The Republican senators — both prominent critics of China — were listed by Hua as targets of the “corresponding sanctions”.
Others include Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, Sam Brownback, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, and the Congressional-Executive Commission on China — which monitors human rights and submits an annual report to President Trump and Congress, according to Reuters.
Both the U.S. moves and response by China were said to be largely symbolic because the officials likely don’t have much financial or legal contact with each other’s countries, Bloomberg reported.
Fox News’ Adam Shaw and the Associated Press contributed to this report
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