US blacklists 28 Chinese entities involved in Uighurs' Muslim crackdown

In a step that will further irk China, the United States on Monday blacklisted 28 Chinese entities involved in a crackdown on Muslims in Xinjiang province.

"These twenty-eight entities have been determined by the US Government to be acting contrary to the foreign policy interests of the United States," the Commerce Department said in a notice published in the Federal Register.

"The U.S. government and Department of Commerce cannot and will not tolerate the brutal suppression of ethnic minorities within China," New York Times quoted Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross as saying.

China has been condemned internationally for cracking down on the minorities living in their countries. China has been accused of oppressing the Uighur by sending them to mass detention camps, interfering in their religious activities and sending the community to undergo some form of forceful re-education or indoctrination.

At a United Nations meet in August, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada raised the issue of suppression of religious freedom by China and Pakistan, and slammed the two Asian nations for "persecuting and repressing" their religious minorities.

The US action of blacklisting entities will further deteriorate Washington and Beijing already tense relations.