WASHINGTON: The US has announced sanctions against Chinese politicians who it says are responsible for human rights violations against Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang region, a media report said on Friday.

The sanctions target the US-connected financial interests of regional Chinese Communist Party (CCP) chief Chen Quanguo and three other officials, said the BBC report.

According to President Donald Trump”s administration, Chen is the highest-ranking Chinese official ever to be hit by US sanctions.

The other officials targeted are Wang Mingshan, director of the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau; Zhu Hailun, a senior party member; and former security official Huo Liujun.

It is now a crime in the US to conduct financial transactions with all of them, and they will have their US-based assets frozen.

However Huo will not be subjected to visa restrictions that bar the others and their families from entering the US.

Sanctions have also been placed on the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau as a whole.

(With inputs from agencies)