The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed a series of designations on individuals and entities linked to repression in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Most designations are made under Executive Order 13818 (December 2017), which implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, allowing blocking sanctions on foreign persons responsible for serious human rights abuse or corruption.
In July 2020, OFAC designated the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau (XPSB) and several Chinese Communist Party officials, including Chen Quanguo, then Party Secretary of the XUAR, along with Zhu Hailun, Wang Mingshan, and Huo Liujun. Chen was the highest-ranking Chinese official ever sanctioned by the United States at that time. Additional designations followed, including the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) and its former Party Secretary Sun Jinlong in July 2020.
Consequences of designation include:
- Asset blocking of any property within U.S. jurisdiction.
- A prohibition on U.S. persons transacting with the designated party.
- Secondary exposure for foreign banks that knowingly facilitate significant transactions.
These OFAC actions operate alongside, but are distinct from, other Xinjiang-related U.S. tools: the Commerce Department's Entity List additions (including surveillance firms like Hikvision and Dahua, and the XPCC's commercial arms), Customs and Border Protection Withhold Release Orders on Xinjiang cotton and tomato products, and the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) signed in December 2021, which created a rebuttable presumption that goods from Xinjiang involve forced labor.
China retaliated with its own sanctions on U.S. officials and entities, including members of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. The European Union, United Kingdom, and Canada announced coordinated Xinjiang-related sanctions in March 2021, marking the first EU human rights sanctions on China since the 1989 Tiananmen arms embargo.
Example
In July 2020, OFAC designated Chen Quanguo, then Xinjiang Party Secretary, under Executive Order 13818 for his role in mass detention of Uyghurs.
Frequently asked questions
Primarily Executive Order 13818, which implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and authorizes blocking sanctions for serious human rights abuse.
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