The Dalai Lama has expressed concern over the "tragic loss of lives" in China's restive northwest Xinjiang region where 156 people have been killed in ethnic unrest.
"I am deeply saddened and concerned with the worsening situation in Xinjiang, especially with the tragic loss of lives," the Tibetan spiritual leader said in a statement from his New Delhi office on Wednesday.
"I earnestly urge the Chinese authorities to exercise restraint in dealing with the situation in a spirit of understanding and far-sightedness."
The Dalai Lama's comments about the violence between Han Chinese and Uighur Muslims came as the mayor of Urumqi told reporters Wednesday that the situation in the troubled region's capital was "under control".
And the mayor, Jerla Isamudin, added that anyone found guilty of murder in connection to the unrest would be given the death penalty.
The Han are China's dominant ethnic group, making up over 90 per cent of the nation's 1.3 billion people, according to the latest government figures.
But in Xinjiang, a vast region of deserts and mountains bordering Central Asia, eight million Turkic-speaking Uighurs make up nearly half the population.
Trouble broke out in Xinjiang on Sunday with clashes between the two ethnic groups.
The Uighurs have consistently complained about discrimination and repression under communist Chinese rule over the past 60 years, accusations the government denies.
Tensions have remained high over the past several days with more than 1,000 people injured in clashes - reminiscent of last year's unrest in Buddhist Tibet.
Tibetans stormed through the streets of the region's capital Lhasa, and attacked Han Chinese in frustration at what they claimed was repressive Chinese rule.
The violence quickly spread to neighbouring Tibetan-inhabited provinces and was quelled by Beijing using force.
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