Judy Woodruff:

Tonight, we continue our series "China: Power & Prosperity" with what the U.S. calls one of the worst human rights crises of our time.

Uighurs are Muslims who trace their roots back through thousands of years to Central Asia. Today, most of them, about 11 million, live in the Chinese province Xinjiang. They represent less than 1 percent of the population in a country that is more than 92 percent Han Chinese, the ethnicity that China traces back to an ancient Chinese empire.

Communist China has long persecuted people based on their religion. But the U.S., international groups, and Uighurs say this is different. They accuse China of throwing Uighurs into camps and targeting their religion and entire culture.

With the support of the Pulitzer Center, Nick Schifrin reports from a city many Uighurs have fled to, Istanbul.