(CNN) An award-winning Chinese photojournalist has disappeared in China after reportedly being taken away by authorities in Xinjiang, a region in a global spotlight for the alleged internment of at least one million Muslim Uyghurs.

Lu Guang's disappearance was revealed by his wife, Xu Xiaoli, who posted news of his disappearance on social media and said that she had not been able to contact him since early November.

In her tweets and telephone conversation with CNN, she recounted that Lu was traveling in Xinjiang -- in northwest China -- on November 3 when she lost contact with him. He had connected with photographers in Urumqi, the provincial capital, a week earlier. He was due to meet a friend in Sichuan province on November 5, but never showed up.

Though many of the details surrounding Lu's disappearance remain unclear, the case has brought attention to the Chinese Communist Party's restrictions on free speech and the quashing of dissent.

At least 41 journalists were imprisoned in China at the end of 2017, according to a report from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Only Turkey jailed more journalists last year

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