MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th May, 2021) China has decided to introduce sanctions against a top US official responsible for the latest report on international religious freedom, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
"In response to the US side's actions to support evil cults and introduced one-sided sanctions against Chinese officials based on lies and false information, China has decided to sanction United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) Commissioner Johnnie Moore," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said during a regular press briefing.
Zhao called on the United States to correct its mistakes by canceling the sanctions against Chinese officials and stop interfering with Chinese domestic affairs over religious issues.
The US sanctioned Yu Hui, former office director of the Central Leading Group on Preventing and Dealing with Heretical Religions, of Chengdu, Sichuan Province on May 12, when the State Department released its 2020 Report to Congress on International Religious Freedom.
Sanctions against Yu were introduced because of his role in the "arbitrary detention of Falun Gong practitioners for their spiritual beliefs."
China named Falun Gong as an evil cult and launched a campaign to root out its influence in the country in 1999.
