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Republican New Jersey lawmaker Chris Smith on Tuesday blasted China for placing sanctions on U.S. lawmakers.
“I think it’s outrageous and it’s a further manifestation of the bullying of Xi Jinping, the maximum dictator of China. I’ve worked on human rights issues in China for the entirety of my career,” Smith told “America’s Newsroom.”
Smith said that China is “worse now than ever” after Jinping’s installment as a leader, adding that he is the “dictator there for life.”
“He has consolidated power, he has secret police second to none and he has lied about Hong Kong. They gave their word that there would be human rights, it’s called the Basic Law, and that they would respect it at least until 2047. They broke that and dishonored themselves — that promise.”
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SANCTIONS CHINESE OFFICIALS OVER HUMAN RIGHT ABUSES AGAINST IYGHUR MUSLIMS
China on Monday announced sanctions against a number of U.S. officials, including Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, in retaliation for legislation intended to punish senior Chinese officials over Beijing's alleged treatment of minority Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang, according to multiple reports.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the sanctions against the U.S. officials would begin on Monday. The Republican senators -- both prominent critics of China -- were listed by Hua as targets of the “corresponding sanctions.”
Others include ambassador at large for International Religious Freedom, Sam Brownback, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, and the Congressional Executive Commission on China, which monitors human rights and submits an annual report to President Trump and Congress, according to Reuters.
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Smith said that Muslims in China are “subject to genocide” through “forced abortion, sterilization and concentration camps.” Smith also said there was religious persecution against Catholics, Muslims, Christians and Tibetan Buddhists.
“We need to stand up to it,” Smith said.
“They’re all being forced, coerced into following Xi Jinping’s principles of Marxism."
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