Police detained and questioned for three hours James Miles of the Economist along with a local driver and a Uighur source, confiscated the identification documents of the two Uighur men and warned Miles not to report on what he had seen in Kashgar.
Miles was interviewing a source in a public area when the source received a phone call instructing him to report immediately to the local police station with the journalist and his driver. The three men went to the police station. They were separated for questioning, which was wide-ranging. Miles characterized the interrogation as “tedious but polite”. He said after all three men were released, the police kept the documents belonging to the Uighur driver and interview subject.
The driver is fine, but Miles was unable to contact the source in the days following. “I was told not to report anything I had seen while I was traveling around Kashgar and that it would be troublesome for me if I did so,” said Miles.