Uighurs swearing allegiance to the state at the compulsory Monday morning flag-raising meeting in Kashgar [Ruth Ingram] Shopkeepers lining up for their three-times-a-day roll call and weapon brandishing exercises in Kashgar [Ruth Ingram] The previous week he been forced to tell them to remove head coverings, this week's rendering of the anthem was so lethargic they would have to repeat it three times before it passed muster. He was reaching the end of his patience. Next week it would be better - or else.



The "or else", we were to discover, was not empty rhetoric. The following 45 minutes were crammed with public shaming, confessions, criticisms and explanation of new laws.



A young man named Akmal got up to speed-read his four-page lament for having been five minutes late for the meeting two weeks ago, and for keeping his restaurant in less than pristine condition. He determined to rectify these misdemeanours thanks to President Xi Jinping and a two-week period of re-education during which he had gained a deeper appreciation of The Party and its efforts on behalf of the unworthy citizens of his province, of which he must be the least worthy.



Several more repentant latecomers read their speeches, and then it was time for new laws. A spirited area chief announced that despite residents' misgivings, the compulsory health checks where DNA and blood samples would be taken was nothing to be alarmed about. Men and women alike were ordered to remove head coverings seconds before the Chinese flag was raised to an impassioned rendering of the national anthem This was not some sinister plot to harm them, but a generous gift from Beijing to spot preventable diseases and to ensure they were the healthiest they could be, he said. Everyone was expected to take part without delay. His second announcement concerned the hoarding of Qurans dated before 2012, ancient Islamic texts and household items engraved with Arabic script. Everyone was guilty of this kind of sentimentality, he said, but it was now time to have a clean sweep and hand everything in to the government. Who needed all this junk anyway, cluttering up valuable living space?



Anyone not surrendering these family heirlooms on time would be punished severely according to the law, and any visitor to these homes not reporting their finds would also face the full legal consequences. But, he said, it needn't come to that, need it? Explainer: China's persecution

of Uighur Muslims

He added that everyone should be aware of literature they might have at home that was now no longer legal. They should pay great attention to weekly announcements concerning the mounting tide of recently deemed illegal books, or face serious consequences for hoarding them. Re-education or worse would await anything discovered during the twice-weekly house-to-house inspections.

This led him on to the most important business of the day, he said which was mutual surveillance. The community-watch scheme was being rolled out even more thoroughly and resolutely than before.



Each group of between five to 13 families, and ten retail units, now had a leader and a second-in-command, on whom would fall the full burden of blame should anyone in their group fall foul of any of the increasing number of new laws. And this would not only include the members of the unit, but also three generations of each of their family members, wherever they might live in China or anywhere else in the world. Gatherings in homes for special events could now only comprise three generations of family members, and where more guests were expected, permission had to be obtained in advance from the local committee and a representative sent to attend the said gathering to prevent "careless talk".



On no account was the conversation to stray into religious territory. This would be punished most severely. Gatherings in homes for special events could now only comprise three generations of family members and where more guests were expected, permission had to be obtained in advance from the local committee... On no account was the conversation to stray into religious territory. This would be punished most severely Fresh from the weekly meeting - which concluded with a photographic record of everyone present, a roll call by each community unit leader and a carting away of miscreants to be "re-educated" - we wandered back into the old city, past gaggles of elderly women on every street corner waving triangular red pennants.



None were interested in my "idle chatter", or questions as to the whys and wherefores of their flag-waving exercise but with at least ten CCTV cameras pointing in every direction on each of the street corners, who could blame them? Trips to pretty much everywhere during our stay were dominated by the substantial police presence, designed, we were reliably told, to protect us. Trips to anywhere by bus were punctuated by checkpoints, for ID checks and body scanning of Uighurs.



Native Han Chinese travellers were exempt. There were so many metal detectors in town that one could be forgiven for thinking the government had shares in the manufacturing companies. And the revival of medieval instruments of torture wielded by the "home guard" would have been fascinating in the extreme were it not for the suspicion that they would actually be used. A closed local mosque seen standing in the Kashgar old town, in the northwestern Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region [Getty]

One evening's entertainment was unique. Silhouetted against a full moon, a squad of police recruits were being taken through their evening drill in front of the iconic Hayt Kar mosque One day we inadvertently strayed off the tourist route to visit a market, and no sooner had we stepped down from the bus than we were encircled by guards carrying between them a red tipped spear, a bill hook, something that looked like a medieval polearm and one sporting a metal rod with six-inch nails spiralling down the main shaft. Welcome to Kashgar!



Evenings were balmy. Nothing was nicer than fresh noodles or sipping tea beside a beautifully restored fountain or eating Kashgar's famous homemade ice cream. But these days no meander through the dusty streets would be complete without the latest addition to Kashgar's tourism experience. Police patrolling the alleyways of Kashgar [Ruth Ingram] Forget live music and national dancing. You can find that anywhere in the world. One evening's entertainment was unique. Silhouetted against a full moon, a squad of police recruits were being taken through their evening drill in front of the iconic Hayt Kar mosque.



They just couldn't quite get the garrotting movement right and were being urged on to perfection by an overzealous sergeant major.



Lingering if we could without attracting too much attention, and resisting the urge to take photos, we slid into the shadows and made our way to our favourite teahouse. To a background of live music and a pot of fresh tea there was still no getting away from it.



We whiled away a happy half hour watching the guard changing under our balcony in front of the newly converted "convenient police station" opposite and wended our way home. Suddenly, out of the gloom, the piece de resistance of our day. As if staged for our benefit alone, a troop of soldiers rushed from behind yelling and waving machine guns.



Oblivious to any consternation they might be causing tourists in their midst, they raced past, and not ten metres away set up in formation. Groups of three! Raise rifle, step forward, kick right, kick left, downward thrust of gun onto assailant's neck, raise gun again and failing a first time kill, heavy thrust of bayonet into assailant's body.



If all else fails, take up shooting position on one knee and kill. Disband, disperse, regroup and repeat.



Open mouthed we gawped at the spectacle played out several times and felt privileged to have been selected to witness this tiny exhibition of military might, and momentarily grateful that it was not directed at us.



And this is the worrying thing. There is a target audience and it is not tourists. With most countries along the Silk Road now in Beijing's pocket and too grateful for mountains of development aid poured in their direction to speak out, there are few dissenters left to trumpet the cause of the Uighur people - the latest victims of China's war on terror, who are rounded up daily, forcibly disappeared, re-educated and squeezed until all spirit and hint of resistance to Beijing's rule is extinguished.

My holiday would certainly be memorable but my own two-week dalliance with China's military might was nothing compared to the dismal reality of everyday life for the Uighur Muslims of Xinjiang.



The author is writing under a pseudonym to protect her identity



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