LJUBLJANA: Slovenia on Wednesday became the latest EU country to summon its Chinese ambassador to discuss what it called Beijing’s “unacceptable” sanctions on European parliamentarians and organisations.

The foreign ministry said in a statement that at the meeting with Ambassador Wang Shunqing, it “underlined its concerns over the violation of minorities’ human rights in the Xinjiang province and the changes made to the Chinese legislation concerning the autonomy of Hong Kong”. The Chinese government has cracked down on opposition in Hong Kong, arresting dozens of activists and smothering a street protest movement with a draconian national security law. On Monday, the European Union, Britain and Canada blacklisted four former and current officials in the Xinjiang region, while the United States, which had already sanctioned two of those officials in July 2020, added the other pair to the list.

Beijing snapped back immediately, announcing entry bans on 10 Europeans.

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