The U.S. government commission on religious freedom called for targeted sanctions against China over the ethnic unrest in the predominantly Muslim region of Xinjiang.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said it was "gravely concerned" about China's "repression" of the cultural and religious traditions of the Uighurs, the ethnic group native to the vast, arid Xinjiang region.
China says 192 people died on July 5 in Xinjiang's capital Urumqi in the country's worst ethnic violence in decades pitting Uighurs against the growing number of settlers from China's Han majority.
The religious freedom commission called for President Barack Obama to consider sanctions on exports coming from Xinjiang or travel restrictions on Chinese government officials in charge of the northwestern province.
"Protests such as those occurring last week happen for a reason," said Leonard Leo, the chairman of the commission.
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