China vows to respond after US Xinjiang sanctions passed

BEIJING (AP) — China says it will take all necessary measures to safeguard its institutions and enterprises after the U.S. Senate passed a new law barring imports from the Xinjiang region unless businesses can prove they were produced without forced labor. A Foreign Ministry spokesperson says the measure approved Thursday indicates that the U.S. has no scruples about smearing China by every means. The law is the latest in a series intensifying U.S. penalties over China’s abuse of predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other minority ethnic groups in the country’s west. President Joe Biden also announced new sanctions Thursday targeting several Chinese biotech and surveillance companies, a leading drone manufacturer and government entities for their actions in Xinjiang.