Since 2017 a succession of re-education camps have sprung up across Xinjiang, the home of the Uyghur people. It's estimated that one in ten Uyghur people are incarcerated to be subjected to patriotic education, but there are reports of forced labour, forced sterilisation and even torture. Much has been written about what is happening in the region, but this episode sheds light on why it's happening. Cindy Yu speaks to Professor James Millward, a renowned historian of the region, to break down China's historic relationship with its ethnic minorities and what Beijing hopes to get out of its treatment of the Uyghurs.

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