Mubasher: The US imposed visa restrictions on Chinese officials involved in the mass detention of predominantly-Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang region, Bloomberg reported.

The restrictions are being imposed against government leaders and Communist Party officials who are responsible for or complicit in the detention and abuse of ethnic minorities.

“The Chinese government has instituted a highly repressive campaign against Uighurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other members of Muslim minority groups,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was quoted by the news outlet as saying in a Tuesday statement.

The visa restrictions were based on the Immigration and Nationality Act which stipulates people whose entry is deemed as “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States”

 “The United States calls on the People's Republic of China to immediately end its campaign of repression in Xinjiang,” Pompeo said.

The move came after the US Department of Commerce added 28 Chinese security bureaus and companies to the so-called “Entity List” over Beijing’s treatment of the ethnic minorities.

In response to the blacklist, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said that Beijing urges Washington to “immediately correct its mistake, withdraw the relevant decision and stop interfering in China's internal affairs.”