The Chinese say their vocational training centres are voluntary and aimed at eradicating extremism and terrorism. Others say they are extra-judicial detention centres and part of an elaborate system to assimilate Muslims into Han China. Irish Times correspondent in China Peter Goff visited some of these centres in the country's barren northwest Xinjiang province, where an estimated 1.5 million Uighurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and other Muslim minorities have been placed over the past few years. He speaks to Chris Dooley about what he saw. He also talks about the Hong Kong protests, how the authorities have reacted there and what could happen next.