China will lift sanctions on several Members of the European Parliament and the parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights, the EU’s top parliamentary official has said. The move comes as tensions rise…

China will lift sanctions on several Members of the European Parliament and the parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights, the EU’s top parliamentary official has said. The move comes as tensions rise over new US trade tariffs targeting both China and the EU.

The sanctions, first introduced in 2021, had targeted 10 individuals – including four sitting MEPs and one former member – in retaliation for Western measures against Chinese officials accused of the mass detention of Muslim Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region.

The restrictions banned the affected people and their families from travelling to China and blocked them and their associated organisations from doing business there.

China has now also removed sanctions on the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights.

“Our parliamentary committees must be able to discuss European interests with their Chinese counterparts without fear of repercussions,” parliament president Roberta Metsola said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Our relationship with China remains complex and multi-faceted. The best way to approach it is through engagement and dialogue.”

The move comes against a backdrop of growing global tensions amid massive trade tariffs imposed by Trump on both China and the EU.

The Chinese sanctions banned the affected people and their families from travelling to China, and prohibited them and associated organisations from doing business with China.

List of European MPs and institutions sanctioned by China in March 2021

MEPs

Reinhard Butikofer (Germany, Alliance90/Greens)

Michael Gahler (Germany, EPP/CDU)

Raphaël Glucksmann (France, S&D)

Ilhan Kyuchyuk (Bulgaria, ALD)

Miriam Lexmann (Slovakia, CDM)

Dutch parliament

Sjoerd Wiemer Sjoerdsma (D66)

Belgian parliament

Samuel Cogolati (Ecolo)

Lithuanian parliament (Seimas)

Dovile Sakaliene (Social Democratic Party)

Academics

Adrian Zenz (Germany)

Björn Jerdén (Sweden, director of the Swedish National China Centre)

Organisations

Political and Security Committee of the Council of the European Union

Subcommittee on Human Rights of the European Parliament

Mercator Institute for China Studies (Germany)

Alliance of Democracies Foundation (Denmark)

Chinese sanctions still apply to three national MPs from Belgium, the Netherlands and Lithuania, as well as academics and EU institutions and think tanks, including the Germany-based Mercator Institute for China Studies (Merics) know for its critical stance on China.

One of the academics who remains sanctioned is Adrian Zenz, director of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, whose research triggered worldwide criticism of China’s treatmentof the Muslim Uyghur minority.

List of Chinese individuals and organisations blacklisted by the EU

Individuals

Zhu Hailun, former secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR)

Wang Junzheng, deputy secretary of the Party Committee of XUAR 

Wang Mingshan, secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee 

Chen Mingguo, vice-chairman of the government of the XUAR, and director of the XUAR Public Security Department

Organisations

The Public Security Bureau of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC)

In response to the Chinese sanctions, the European Parliament halted the ratification of the China-EU Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI,) which had aimed to put EU companies on an equal footing in China.

Asked earlier on Wednesday about reports that Beijing would lift sanctions, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a news conference: “The economic and trade cooperation between China and Europe is complementary and mutually beneficial.”

“The legislative bodies of China and the EU are an important part of China-EU relations, and we hope that the two sides will meet each other halfway and strengthen exchanges,” he said, adding that: “Members of the European Parliament are welcome to visit China more often.”

According to the EU statement, China began seeking to “re-establish communication” in September 2024, and multiple meetings have taken place since then.

(with newswires)