The United States said Friday it would keep denying visas to Chinese officials over human rights concerns in Xinjiang, Tibet and elsewhere, vowing accountability despite a thaw in tensions between the powers.

Unlike previous high-profile actions against Chinese officials, the State Department did not identify or give a number of those who would be denied visas or specify if additional people were being blacklisted.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that United States was restricting visas to current or former officials "for their involvement in repression of marginalized religious and ethnic communities."

Beijing "has not lived up to its commitments to respect and protect human rights, as demonstrated by the ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, the erosion of fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong, persistent human rights abuses in Tibet and transnational repression around the world," he said in a statement.

He called on China to accept recommendations in the latest UN review of its rights record, including releasing citizens "it has arbitrarily and unjustly detained."

Under previous president Donald Trump, the United States publicly named several officials who would be denied entry including Chen Quanguo, the architect of China's hardline policies in Tibet and then Xinjiang who has since retired.

Under President Joe Biden, the United States has kept up pressure on China, including by expanding restrictions on technology exports, but has also pursued dialogue to keep tensions in check.

The United States says that China is carrying out genocide against the mostly Muslim Uyghur people in Xinjiang, pointing to accounts of vast detention camps, allegations strongly rejected by Beijing.

AFP

Chinese and US flags flutter outside the building of an American company in Beijing on January 21, 2021. © Tingshu Wang, Reuters

US keeps barring Chinese officials over rights