China sanctions UK entities, individuals for Xinjiang 'lies'

Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith. - AFP

BEIJING (Reuters): China sanctioned organisations and individuals in the United Kingdom on Friday (March 26) over what it called "lies and disinformation" about Xinjiang, days after Britain imposed sanctions for human rights abuses in the western Chinese region.

The Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement it sanctioned four entities and nine individuals, including lawmakers such as former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith and the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission, that "maliciously spread lies and disinformation."