On Monday, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the introduction of sanctions against 10 Citizens of the European Union, including Members of the European Parliament, academics and Lithuanian Parliamentarian Dovilė Šakalienė." I am honoured to be in such a society – our top ten are consistently working towards an independent international investigation into the Xinjiang Uyghur genocide.

Humanity is not for sale, so we will do without travel and business with the Chinese Communist Party," said a member of the Seimas when she learned of the sanctions." This reaction from Chinese representatives to the announced European Union sanctions only shows that a unified EU position is working. My work in the Interparliamentary Alliance on China or criticism of human rights violations is based on publicly available information from international reliable sources and I will continue this work," said D. Šakalienė. Beijing imposed sanctions in response to European Union sanctions against Chinese officials for persecution and torture of Uyghurs. Sanctions include a ban on entry to China, Hong Kong and Macau, as well as on authorised persons and their affiliates and companies doing business with China. Sanctions are automatically applied to family members, so D. Šaklienė's spouse diplomat is also on the list of authorised persons. D. Šakalienė, a member of the Seimas Committee on National Security and Defence, is also the co-chairwoman of the Interparliamentary Alliance on China. The Alliance on Monday condemned China's actions and consolidated its commitment to defending freedom of expression and seeking accountability for actions in the international arena. China is accused of imprisoning at least a million Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in so-called re-education camps in the Xinjiang region, as well as gross human rights violations, including forced labour and forced sterilisation of women.