The Chinese authorities announced the measures on March 26 against Alton and eight other U.K. citizens, as well as four institutions critical of the country's human rights record.

The individuals are banned from entering China, Hong Kong, and Macau, and Chinese citizens are forbidden to do business with them.

Alton, an independent member of the House of Lords, the upper house of the U.K. parliament, noted that the step followed the U.K. government's introduction of sanctions against four senior Chinese officials on Monday over China's treatment of its Uyghur Muslim minority.

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