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| - Germany on Tuesday called in China's ambassador for "urgent talks" after Beijing slapped sanctions on European officials for EU measures over the crackdown on the Uyghurs, the foreign ministry said. "The Chinese ambassador, Wu Ken, was called in for urgent talks with state secretary Miguel Berger," the ministry said. Berger "made clear the German government's view that China's sanctions against European MPs, scientists and political institutions as well as non-governmental organisations represent an inappropriate escalation that unnecessarily strains ties between the EU and China". The ministry called the sanctions an "incomprehensible step" and urged Beijing to "roll them back immediately". It described the EU sanctions agreed Monday as a "reaction to the dramatic human rights situation" of Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang region of China. "It is now up to the Chinese government to improve the human rights situation in Xinjiang and respect the rights of the Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang," the ministry said. On Monday, the EU, 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 -- including five members of the European Parliament -- as well as two EU bodies and two think tanks. Rights groups believe at least one million Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim minorities have been incarcerated in camps in the northwestern region, where China is also accused of forcibly sterilising women and imposing forced labour. dlc/mfp/jv
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