China urges US to lift sanctions against Cuba

Beijing [China], July 11 (ANI): The United States should lift unilateral sanctions against Cuba completely, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Monday.
Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the remarks in response to a query on the media reports that the US State Department announced visa restrictions against 28 Cuban officials on July 9, Xinhua news agency reported.
Wang told the daily news briefing that China firmly supports the efforts made by the Cuban government and its people to maintain social stability. The unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States against Cuban officials, which have no basis in international law, are typical "coercive diplomacy."
For 29 consecutive times, the United Nations General Assembly has adopted resolutions overwhelmingly demanding that the United States end its economic, commercial, and financial embargo against Cuba, Wang said.
"We urge the United States to heed the call for justice from the international community, abide by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and fully lift unilateral sanctions against Cuba," Wang said.
This request to lift sanctions from Cuba comes a day after the United States introduced visa restrictions on 28 Cuban officials, including Cuban government employees and high-ranking members of the Cuban Communist Party.
"The Department of State has taken steps to impose visa restrictions on 28 Cuban officials pursuant to Presidential Proclamation 5377, which suspends nonimmigrant entry into the United States of officers and employees of the Cuban government and Cuban Communist Party," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday.
Those 28 officials include officials involved in the alleged crackdown on the protests of July 11, 2021. Among them are high-ranking members of the Cuban Communist Party responsible for defining policy at the national and provincial levels.
"Instead of ensuring the safety of the Cuban people and respect for their freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly, these officials permitted or facilitated violent and unjust detentions, sham trials, and prison sentences spanning decades for hundreds of protesters," the statement added.
The new restriction supplements previous US policies "to promote accountability for Cuban officials who enable their government's assaults on democracy and human rights," such as three rounds of visa restrictions imposed by the US Department of State since November 2021 and four rounds of financial sanctions imposed by the US Treasury Department since July 2021.
"Also covered are multiple officials who work in the state communications and media sectors who formulate and implement policies that restrict Cubans' ability to freely access and share information and who engage in the spread of disinformation. The Cuban government-employed Internet throttling on July 11, 2021, to both prevent the Cuban people from communicating with each other and keep the world from witnessing the historic events that day," Blinken said.
He further said state media officials continue to engage in a campaign against jailed July 11, 2021, protesters and their family members who speak publicly about their loved ones' cases. (ANI)