China vows to respond after US enacts Xinjiang sanctions

BEIJING (AP) — China has said it will take unspecified “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 made without forced labor. A Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Friday that the legislation approved Thursday indicates that the U.S. had “no scruples about smearing China by every means.” The U.S. law is the latest U.S. penalty over China’s alleged abuse of predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other minority ethnic groups in the country’s far west. President Joe Biden also announced new sanctions Thursday targeting Chinese biotech and surveillance companies, a leading drone manufacturer and government entities for their actions in Xinjiang.