Chinese official sanctioned for Xinjiang violations takes charge of Tibet
Beijing, Oct 18 (EFE).- China has appointed Wang Junzheng as head of the Tibet region, official media said on Tuesday, in a controversial arrangement for an official sanctioned by several western countries over alleged human rights violations in the troubled Xinjiang region.
The state news agency Xinhua reported that “Wang Junzheng has been appointed” Communist Party of China (CPC) chief in the Tibet Autonomous Region, replacing Wu Yingjie, who is to retire soon.
In March, the European Union imposed sanctions on four senior Chinese officials, including Wang, over human rights violations and abuses related to the treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang province.
The sanctions were the first by the EU on Chinese officials since the 1989 Tiananmen massacre.
Wang was then the party secretary of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.
Other countries that imposed sanctions against the officials for rights abuses in the northwest Chinese region include the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada.
China has repeatedly denied that the alleged rights abuses in Xinjiang.
Wang, 58, was appointed head of Xinjiang’s security in February 2019 and deputy secretary of the CCP in the region.
According to various human rights organizations, the government has forced hundreds of thousands of members of the Muslim minority into internment camps since 2017 in Xinjiang.
Rights bodies like Amnesty International have denounced the alleged abuses committed by the authorities in Xinjiang.
They cite satellite images of expanding detention centers, leaked documents, and interviews with exiled Uighurs abroad who have lost contact with their relatives in China.
In a press conference last week in Beijing, representatives of the Xinjiang government said the rights violation allegations were false.
China has restricted reporting from the region.
Foreign journalists, who travel independently to Xinjiang, are subjected to continuous surveillance and intimidation, as stated in the latest report of the Foreign Correspondents Club of China. EFE
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