They would not have been allowed to go even if they wanted to, as had recently become apparent.

The rhetorical trick is ensuring only journalists who would never go end up in positions of power.

ABC (Australia) recently acceped a tour and published this schlock:

In Urumqi, a flashpoint of unrest in the past, we were allowed to walk around and film unrestricted, past midnight and without a minder.

Uyghur families appeared relaxed as they enjoyed kebabs and sheep brains at the bustling night markets.

Those we spoke to said the city was safe and their lives were good.

But our requests to see one of the former internment camps where more than 1 million people are believed to have been locked up for months or years, were denied by our Chinese hosts.

"The people we claimed were genocided are clearly alive and happy. Now show us where you did the genocide!"

The man and the camera During the tour, the ABC and a US outlet approached a souvenir vendor who claimed to have spent time in such a facility.

He wasn't provided by the tour guides.

When we started interviewing him, another man we'd never met appeared with a camera, stood next to us and filmed his every answer.

Imamu Maimaiti Sidike, a father of three, showed no outward sign of intimidation as he impassively described the "extremely radical religious ideologies" that saw him locked up for seven months.

"I didn't allow my wife to work," he said.

"I believed that if we spent her income, we would go to hell and forced her to stay home. I also promoted these values to the people around me."

He denied any mistreatment at the facility, claiming he ate well, played chess and read books and was even allowed to go home on weekends.

Repression in Xinjiang China is completely reshaping how people act and speak in its Xinjiang region, a new report finds.

A farmer walks past propaganda depicting ethnic minority residents reading the Chinese constitution

"Through my studies, I realised that radical religious views harm people. I no longer have this mindset. I can get along with people of any ethnicity and faith."

So the street vendor was treated humanely, reeducated to reject extremism and accept feminism and tolerance of other people and religions, has a job now, and showed "no outward sign of intimidation" but a guy recorded our interview so we're going to paint this as scary and 1894 dystopia.