Nur Bekri, Chairman of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, attends a news conference during the annual session of China's parliament, the National People's Congress (NPC), in Beijing March 7, 2010. Picture taken March 7, 2010. REUTERS/Jason Lee

Local villager Yonghong stands next to a window in a log cabin at Khom village of Altay, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, January 27, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee

A woman walks toward a toilet among mountains covered with snow in Hemu of Altay, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China January 28, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee

A toilet is seen among mountains covered with snow in Hemu of Altay, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China January 28, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee

Foxes are seen in the snow in Hemu of Altay, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China January 28, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee

A fox walks in the snow in Hemu of Altay, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China January 28, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee

A fox is seen in the snow in Hemu of Altay, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China January 28, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee

A cat is seen at Hemu village among snow mountains in Altay, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China January 26, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee

A cat is seen at Hemu village among snow mountains in Altay, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China January 26, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee

Smoke is seen from a chimney in Altay, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China January 24, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee

A boat is seen at Kanas National Geological Park in Altay, China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, September 25, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Lee

A man walks past racing boats for 2016 X TRAIL Expedition at Kanas National Geological Park in Altay, China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, September 25, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Lee

Visitors walk at Kanas National Geological Park in Altay, China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, September 25, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Lee

A wooden house is seen next to the border line of China and Russia at Kanas National Geological Park in Altay, China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, September 25, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Lee

A man stands on the dock of Kanas National Geological Park in Altay, China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, September 25, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Lee TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Stars are seen above a lit window of a hotel near the Kanas National Geological Park in Altay, China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, September 24, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Lee

Stars are seen above a hotel near the Kanas National Geological Park in Altay, China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, September 24, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Lee

Stars are seen above buildings near the Kanas National Geological Park in Altay, China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, September 24, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Lee

Participants attend a competition of the 2016 XTRAIL Expedition at Kanas National Geological Park in Altay, China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, September 24, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Lee

Participants attend a competition of the 2016 XTRAIL Expedition at Kanas National Geological Park in Altay, China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, September 24, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Lee TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Participants attend a competition of the 2016 XTRAIL Expedition at Kanas National Geological Park in Altay, China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, September 24, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Lee

Participants attend a competition of the 2016 XTRAIL Expedition at Kanas National Geological Park in Altay, China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, September 24, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Lee

The regional government chairman of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region Shohrat Zakir, speaks at the Lanting Forum about "Opportunities and Future of the Silk Road" in Beijing, China, August 3, 2016. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Dolkun Isa, executive chairman of the World Uyghur Congress, speaks on his phone at the organization’s Munich office July 6, 2015. To match Special Report CHINA-UIGHURS/ REUTERS/David Lague

Uighur refugee boys read the Koran where they are housed in a gated complex in the central city of Kayseri, Turkey, February 11, 2015. Thousands of members of China's Turkic language-speaking Muslim ethnic minority have reached Turkey, mostly since last year, infuriating Beijing, which accuses Ankara of helping its citizens flee unlawfully. Turkish officials deny playing any direct role in assisting the flight. Picture taken February 11, 2015. To match Insight TURKEY-CHINA/UIGHURS REUTERS/Umit Bektas

Uighur refugee men pray where they are housed in a gated complex in the central city of Kayseri, Turkey, February 11, 2015. Thousands of members of China's Turkic language-speaking Muslim ethnic minority have reached Turkey, mostly since last year, infuriating Beijing, which accuses Ankara of helping its citizens flee unlawfully. Turkish officials deny playing any direct role in assisting the flight. Picture taken February 11, 2015. To match Insight TURKEY-CHINA/UIGHURS REUTERS/Umit Bektas

An Uighur refugee boy does his homework where he is housed in a gated complex in the central city of Kayseri, Turkey, February 11, 2015. Thousands of members of China's Turkic language-speaking Muslim ethnic minority have reached Turkey, mostly since last year, infuriating Beijing, which accuses Ankara of helping its citizens flee unlawfully. Turkish officials deny playing any direct role in assisting the flight. Picture taken February 11, 2015. To match Insight TURKEY-CHINA/UIGHURS REUTERS/Umit Bektas

Uighur refugee boys read the Koran where they are housed in a gated complex in the central city of Kayseri, Turkey, February 11, 2015. Thousands of members of China's Turkic language-speaking Muslim ethnic minority have reached Turkey, mostly since last year, infuriating Beijing, which accuses Ankara of helping its citizens flee unlawfully. Turkish officials deny playing any direct role in assisting the flight. Picture taken February 11, 2015. To match Insight TURKEY-CHINA/UIGHURS REUTERS/Umit Bektas

An Uighur refugee boy reads the Koran where he is housed in a gated complex in the central city of Kayseri, Turkey, February 11, 2015. Thousands of members of China's Turkic language-speaking Muslim ethnic minority have reached Turkey, mostly since last year, infuriating Beijing, which accuses Ankara of helping its citizens flee unlawfully. Turkish officials deny playing any direct role in assisting the flight. Picture taken February 11, 2015. To match Insight TURKEY-CHINA/UIGHURS REUTERS/Umit Bektas

Uighur refugees have their lunch in a gated complex where they are housed in the central city of Kayseri, Turkey, February 11, 2015. Thousands of members of China's Turkic language-speaking Muslim ethnic minority have reached Turkey, mostly since last year, infuriating Beijing, which accuses Ankara of helping its citizens flee unlawfully. Turkish officials deny playing any direct role in assisting the flight. Picture taken February 11, 2015. To match Insight TURKEY-CHINA/UIGHURS REUTERS/Umit Bektas

Uighur refugee women walk where they are housed in a gated complex in the central city of Kayseri, Turkey, February 11, 2015. Thousands of members of China's Turkic language-speaking Muslim ethnic minority have reached Turkey, mostly since last year, infuriating Beijing, which accuses Ankara of helping its citizens flee unlawfully. Turkish officials deny playing any direct role in assisting the flight. Picture taken February 11, 2015. To match Insight TURKEY-CHINA/UIGHURS REUTERS/Umit Bektas

Uighur refugees wait during an interview with Reuters in Istanbul, Turkey, July 16, 2015. Thousands of members of China's Turkic language-speaking Muslim ethnic minority have reached Turkey, mostly since last year, infuriating Beijing, which accuses Ankara of helping its citizens flee unlawfully. Turkish officials deny playing any direct role in assisting the flight. Picture taken July 16, 2015. To match Insight TURKEY-CHINA/UIGHURS REUTERS/Osman Orsal

Uighur refugees wait during an interview with Reuters in Istanbul,Turkey, July 16, 2015. Thousands of members of China's Turkic language-speaking Muslim ethnic minority have reached Turkey, mostly since last year, infuriating Beijing, which accuses Ankara of helping its citizens flee unlawfully. Turkish officials deny playing any direct role in assisting the flight. Picture taken July 16, 2015. To match Insight TURKEY-CHINA/UIGHURS REUTERS/Osman Orsal

Uighur refugees wait during an interview with Reuters in Istanbul, Turkey, July 16, 2015. Thousands of members of China's Turkic language-speaking Muslim ethnic minority have reached Turkey, mostly since last year, infuriating Beijing, which accuses Ankara of helping its citizens flee unlawfully. Turkish officials deny playing any direct role in assisting the flight. Picture taken July 16, 2015. To match Insight TURKEY-CHINA/UIGHURS REUTERS/Osman Orsal

Uighur refugees wait during an interview with Reuters in Istanbul, Turkey, July 16, 2015. Thousands of members of China's Turkic language-speaking Muslim ethnic minority have reached Turkey, mostly since last year, infuriating Beijing, which accuses Ankara of helping its citizens flee unlawfully. Turkish officials deny playing any direct role in assisting the flight. Picture taken July 16, 2015. To match Insight TURKEY-CHINA/UIGHURS REUTERS/Osman Orsal

Uighur refugees wait during an interview with Reuters in Istanbul, Turkey, July 16, 2015. Thousands of members of China's Turkic language-speaking Muslim ethnic minority have reached Turkey, mostly since last year, infuriating Beijing, which accuses Ankara of helping its citizens flee unlawfully. Turkish officials deny playing any direct role in assisting the flight. Picture taken July 16, 2015. To match Insight TURKEY-CHINA/UIGHURS REUTERS/Osman Orsal

An Uighur refugee talks during an interview with Reuters in Istanbul, Turkey, July 16, 2015. Thousands of members of China's Turkic language-speaking Muslim ethnic minority have reached Turkey, mostly since last year, infuriating Beijing, which accuses Ankara of helping its citizens flee unlawfully. Turkish officials deny playing any direct role in assisting the flight. Picture taken July 16, 2015. To match Insight TURKEY-CHINA/UIGHURS REUTERS/Osman Orsal

Uighur refugees wait during an interview with Reuters in Istanbul, Turkey, July 16, 2015. Thousands of members of China's Turkic language-speaking Muslim ethnic minority have reached Turkey, mostly since last year, infuriating Beijing, which accuses Ankara of helping its citizens flee unlawfully. Turkish officials deny playing any direct role in assisting the flight. Picture taken July 16, 2015. To match Insight TURKEY-CHINA/UIGHURS REUTERS/Osman Orsal

An Uighur refugee boy looks through a window as his father takes part in an interview with Reuters in Istanbul, Turkey, July 16, 2015. Thousands of members of China's Turkic language-speaking Muslim ethnic minority have reached Turkey, mostly since last year, infuriating Beijing, which accuses Ankara of helping its citizens flee unlawfully. Turkish officials deny playing any direct role in assisting the flight. Picture taken July 16, 2015. To match Insight TURKEY-CHINA/UIGHURS REUTERS/Osman Orsal

An Uighur refugee baby lies on the floor as his mother takes part in an interview with Reuters in Istanbul, Turkey, July 16, 2015. Thousands of members of China's Turkic language-speaking Muslim ethnic minority have reached Turkey, mostly since last year, infuriating Beijing, which accuses Ankara of helping its citizens flee unlawfully. Turkish officials deny playing any direct role in assisting the flight. Picture taken July 16, 2015.To match Insight TURKEY-CHINA/UIGHURS REUTERS/Osman Orsal

An Uighur refugee boy lies on the sofa as his father takes part in an interview with Reuters in Istanbul, Turkey, July 16, 2015. Thousands of members of China's Turkic language-speaking Muslim ethnic minority have reached Turkey, mostly since last year, infuriating Beijing, which accuses Ankara of helping its citizens flee unlawfully. Turkish officials deny playing any direct role in assisting the flight. Picture taken July 16, 2015. To match Insight TURKEY-CHINA/UIGHURS REUTERS/Osman Orsal

Patema Youssef, 22, an Uighur woman, holds a dish of Xinjiang noodles as she poses for a photograph at her home in Shanghai July 15, 2014. During Ramadan, the ninth and holiest month in the Islamic calendar, Muslims refrain from eating and drinking during daylight hours. Reuters photographers took a series of portraits of Muslims observing Ramadan in different countries around the world, and asked them what food they liked to eat when breaking their daily fast. Eid-al-Fitr, marking the end of Ramadan, will be celebrated at the beginning of next week. Picture taken July 15, 2014. REUTERS/Aly Song (CHINA - Tags: FOOD SOCIETY RELIGION TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

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A Uighur man smokes a cigarette on a street in Shanghai, March 26, 2014. As of 2010, there were 5,254 Uighur residents living in Shanghai according to a government website. The traditional home of the Muslim Uighur community is China's western Xinjiang region, which for years has been beset by violence, blamed by the government on Islamist militants and separatists. Exiled Uighur groups and human rights activists say the government's policies in Xinjiang, including controls on Islam, have provoked unrest, a claim Beijing denies. In Xinjiang, state media reports of official notices have emerged, demanding that party members, civil servants, students and teachers not observe Ramadan. Picture taken March 26, 2014. REUTERS/Aly Song (CHINA - Tags: SOCIETY POLITICS)

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Uighur children play with a Han man on a train from Shanghai to Xingjiang, May 14, 2014. As of 2010, there were 5,254 Uighur residents living in Shanghai according to a government website. The traditional home of the Muslim Uighur community is China's western Xinjiang region, which for years has been beset by violence, blamed by the government on Islamist militants and separatists. Exiled Uighur groups and human rights activists say the government's policies in Xinjiang, including controls on Islam, have provoked unrest, a claim Beijing denies. In Xinjiang, state media reports of official notices have emerged, demanding that party members, civil servants, students and teachers not observe Ramadan. Picture taken May 14, 2014. REUTERS/Aly Song (CHINA - Tags: SOCIETY POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)


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A Uighur man (R) walks through the Bund, a waterfront area in central Shanghai, April 3, 2014. As of 2010, there were 5,254 Uighur residents living in Shanghai according to a government website. The traditional home of the Muslim Uighur community is China's western Xinjiang region, which for years has been beset by violence, blamed by the government on Islamist militants and separatists. Exiled Uighur groups and human rights activists say the government's policies in Xinjiang, including controls on Islam, have provoked unrest, a claim Beijing denies. In Xinjiang, state media reports of official notices have emerged, demanding that party members, civil servants, students and teachers not observe Ramadan. Picture taken April 3, 2014. REUTERS/Aly Song (CHINA - Tags: SOCIETY POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

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Suspected Uighurs are transported back to a detention facility in the town of Songkhla in southern Thailand after visiting women and children at a separate shelter March 26, 2014. Picture taken March 26, 2014. To match Special Report THAILAND-ROHINGYA/ REUTERS/Andrew RC Marshall (THAILAND - Tags: CIVIL UNREST)

A suspected Uighur from China's troubled far-western region of Xinjiang, rests on a ground inside a temporary shelter after being detained at the immigration regional headquarters near the Thailand-Malaysia border in Hat Yai, Songkla March 14, 2014. About 200 people rescued by police from a human smuggling camp in southern Thailand on Wednesday are suspected Uighur Muslims from China's troubled far-western region of Xinjiang, say Thai police. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha (THAILAND - Tags: POLITICS SOCIETY IMMIGRATION)

Xinjiang Communist Party Secretary Zhang Chunxian (L) talks with Nur Bekri, chairman of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, during the Xinjiang delegation's group discussion at the National People's Congress (NPC), in Beijing March 6, 2014.
REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon (CHINA - Tags: POLITICS)

A child looks out from a door as a Uighur woman walks by in a residential area in Turpan, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region October 31, 2013. China's claims that it is fighting an Islamist insurgency in energy-rich Xinjiang - a vast area of deserts, mountains and forests geographically located in central Asia - are not new. Since 2001 - a process that started arguably even before - China has conducted a sweeping security crackdown in Xinjiang, further repressing Uighur culture, religious tradition and language, rights groups say, despite strong government denials of offering the Uighurs anything but wide-ranging freedoms. Picture taken October 31, 2013. REUTERS/Michael Martina (CHINA - Tags: SOCIETY POLITICS)

A man collects waste at a garbage dump site next to a mosque in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region November 1, 2013. China's claims that it is fighting an Islamist insurgency in energy-rich Xinjiang - a vast area of deserts, mountains and forests geographically located in central Asia - are not new. Since 2001 - a process that started arguably even before - China has conducted a sweeping security crackdown in Xinjiang, further repressing Uighur culture, religious tradition and language, rights groups say, despite strong government denials of offering the Uighurs anything but wide-ranging freedoms. Picture taken November 1, 2013. REUTERS/Michael Martina (CHINA - Tags: SOCIETY ENVIRONMENT POLITICS)

A woman collects waste at a garbage dump site in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region November 1, 2013. China's claims that it is fighting an Islamist insurgency in energy-rich Xinjiang - a vast area of deserts, mountains and forests geographically located in central Asia - are not new. Since 2001 - a process that started arguably even before - China has conducted a sweeping security crackdown in Xinjiang, further repressing Uighur culture, religious tradition and language, rights groups say, despite strong government denials of offering the Uighurs anything but wide-ranging freedoms. Picture taken November 1, 2013. REUTERS/Michael Martina (CHINA - Tags: SOCIETY POLITICS ENVIRONMENT)

An ethnic Uighur woman pushes a bicycle with her son on it along a dirt road in Turpan, Xinjiang province October 31, 2013. REUTERS/Carlos Barria (CHINA - Tags: SOCIETY)

An ethnic Uighur man sits outside his house near a busy market in Turpan, Xinjiang province October 31, 2013. REUTERS/Carlos Barria (CHINA - Tags: SOCIETY)

An ethnic Uighur man walks along a market in downtown Turpan, Xinjiang province October 31, 2013. REUTERS/Carlos Barria (CHINA - Tags: SOCIETY)

Ethnic Uighur men work at a farming area near Lukqun town, in Xinjiang province October 30, 2013. REUTERS/Carlos Barria (CHINA - Tags: SOCIETY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)