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China is detaining Muslims in vast numbers. The goal: 'Transformation'

Hundreds of ethnic Uighur Muslims spend their days in a high-pressure indoctrination program

largest Mosque in China
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Id Kah Mosque, Kashgar, Xinjiang privince on Jun 1, 2011. This is the largest Mosque in China. Photo Shutterstock

Chris Buckley I NYT Hotan
On the edge of a desert in far western China, an imposing building sits behind a fence topped with barbed wire. Large red characters on the facade urge people to learn Chinese, study law and acquire job skills. Guards make clear that visitors are not welcome.

Inside, hundreds of ethnic Uighur Muslims spend their days in a high-pressure indoctrination program, where they are forced to listen to lectures, sing hymns praising the Chinese Communist Party and write “self-criticism” essays, according to detainees who have been released.

The goal is to remove any devotion to Islam.

Abdusalam Muhemet, 41, said the