Beijing, October 9 (RHC)-- China has slammed a decision by the United States to restrict visas for Chinese officials whom Washington says are involved in rights violations against Muslim minorities in the far-western region of Xinjiang, calling on the U.S. to withdraw the measure.

The U.S. is “disregarding the facts, slandering and smearing China on Xinjiang-related issues,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular press conference on Wednesday.    The Chinese official added that the U.S. move was guided by “sinister intentions” and was “completely futile.”

The U.S. has previously accused China of human rights violations regarding its treatment of the Uighur community in Xinjiang.  Earlier this week, Washington also imposed sanctions against 28 Chinese entities in response to the alleged repression of Muslim minorities.

China has said those sanctions violate its sovereign security and has pledged to take counteraction.  Geng said China’s Commerce Ministry would “soon” release its own blacklist of American entities to be banned by Beijing.

The U.S. ban on the Chinese firms ratcheted up tensions ahead of high-level trade talks between the two countries.  Top-level U.S.-China trade talks are scheduled to resume next Thursday and Friday, when U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin meet with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He in Washington.

Those talks are meant to resolve a trade war between the U.S .and China that President Donald Trump has initiated by imposing massive tariffs on Chinese goods.