FILE: Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwest China - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of people involved in religious extremism activities
2. Various of people, vendors on street, pedestrians

Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwest China - Recent(CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
3. Various of teacher, trainees at law lessons
4. Textbook
5. Trainees attending lecture, taking notes, reading textbook
6. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Exaem Resul, graduate, vocational education and training center(partially overlaid by shot 7):
"I studied law, and teachers told us of acts that reflected extremist thinking. Then I realized I had made mistakes. I couldn't fall asleep that night. The next day when I went to class, I told my teacher that starting from today, I would do my best and study hard to become a new person. The teacher said if this is what I think, he'd 100 percent agree with me."
++SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
7. Exaem Resul rubbing her hands
++SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
8. Sign reading "Powering the nation by improving qualities, finding good job by learning vocational skills"
9. Various of trainees practicing vocational skills
10. Dorm building
11. Various of trainees in dorm
12. Bed
13. Various of trainees shopping
14. Various of trainees getting food, eating at cafe
15. SOUNDBITE(Chinese) Akem Alim, trainee, Aksu vocational education and training center:
"Our center is excellent in terms of condition for study. We enjoy free food and lodging here, with all the daily necessities providing us free. Our teachers here are very professional, treating each of us very kindly."
16. SOUNDBITE(Chinese) Ahizmigul Nur, deputy director, Aksu vocational education and training center(ending with shot 17):
"In case they don't feel well, we must provide them with medical care. They all have medical insurance, and it's free for them to receive any medical treatment. In their spare time, like in the evening, we put up a variety of activities for them, showing films, playing badminton and ping-pang games."
17. Trainees playing ping-pang
18. Trainees playing billiards
19. Various of trainees playing basketball
20. Various of sign of beauty salon
21. Various of Exaem Resul providing facial care to customer
22. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Exaem Resul, graduate, vocational education and training center:
"I saw 5,000 yuan (about 710 U.S. dollars) delivered in my bank account in the first month. I looked at the money and honestly, I never expected that I could be valued like this. I felt truly grateful to the Communist Party and the government, indeed, they delivered us timely. Otherwise, I'd be more gravely influenced by extremism and I cannot even imagine what will happen. I really could not tell. After I came back from the center in January, my family, relatives and neighbors and friends all came to visit me, saying, 'How come you look prettier than before, and more energetic.'"
23. Various of trainees making bread
24. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Zhang Yonghe, executive dean, Human Rights Education and Research Center, Southwest University of Political Science and Law(starting with shot 23)(ending with shot 25):
"We've found that the idea behind extremism is actually to hope that poverty and ignorance should sustain so that it is easy for them to control and coerce people. In this sense, there are two aspects in learning vocational skills, one is that the trainees could master new survival skills to change their life and lead a good life in the future. The other is that they could come to see clearly the harms that extremism has done to them. This will guarantee that they could keep away from extremism and live a normal life."
25. Various of trainees taking vocational skill classes

Vocational education and training centers in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have become a key battlefield in its fight against terrorism and extremism. They are regarded as effective in eliminating the soil and conditions in which terrorism and religious extremism take root.

For some time in Xinjiang, especially in the four prefectures of Kashgar, Hotan, Aksu and Kizilsu Kirgiz in the south, religious extremism was widely spread. Many people in these regions were seriously influenced by religious extremism and got involved in terrorist activities, posing a serious challenge to local security and people's safety.

Xinjiang has a large religious population and extremist forces abused people's religious beliefs to incite them to overthrow secular governments and establish theocratic states. Such illegal activities would certainly affect the social and economic development of Xinjiang.

The autonomous region has set up those vocational education and training centers as a means of integrating preventative measures and a forceful response in the fight against terrorism. These centers offer lessons on standard spoken and written Chinese, laws and vocational skills.

Through these courses, the vast majority of the trainees have come to realize the vicious nature and negative impact of terrorism and religious extremism, freeing themselves from the control of these evil forces.

Exaem Resul is a graduate of such facilities. She recalled how the law studies at the center finally convinced her of her wrong doing.

"I studied law, and teachers told us of acts that reflected extremist thinking. Then I realized I had made mistakes. I couldn't fall asleep that night. The next day when I went to class, I told my teacher that starting from today, I would do my best and study hard to become a new person. The teacher said if this is what I think, he'd 100 percent agree with me," she said.

The centers regard vocational skills as an important tool to improve the trainees' employability, and free vocational training programs are provided to trainees to master occupational skills and overcome employment difficulties.

Based on local demand and employment opportunities, the courses offered at the centers range from garment making, food processing, assembly of electronic products, typesetting and printing, hairdressing and beauty services, e-commerce, auto maintenance and repair, interior design and decoration, livestock breeding, pomiculture, therapeutic massage, household services, handicrafts, flower arrangement to rug weaving, painting, and the performing arts such as music and dance.

Eligible trainees who are willing to learn are offered training on more than one skill to guarantee that they are employable in the job market upon completing their study at the centers.

All the courses and documents at the centers use local ethnic languages along with standard Chinese. The customs of all ethnic groups are fully respected and protected, and a variety of nutritious Muslim food is provided free of charge.

The centers respect the trainees' personal freedom and provide them with free food and lodging.

"Our center is excellent in terms of condition for study. We enjoy free food and lodging here, with all the daily necessities providing us free. Our teachers here are very professional, treating each of us very kindly," said Akem Alim, a trainee at the Aksu vocational education and training center.

"In case they don't feel well, we must provide them with medical care. They all have medical insurance, and it's free for them to receive any medical treatment. In their spare time, like in the evening, we put up a variety of activities for them, showing films, playing badminton and ping pong games," said Ahizmigul Nur, deputy director of the Aksu center.

Exaem Resul chose to learn facial care skills at the center. Upon graduation from the center, she opened her own beauty salon and she is now able to make a good living with her skills.

"I saw 5,000 yuan (about 710 U.S. dollars) delivered in my bank account in the first month. I looked at the money and honestly, I never expected that I could be valued like this. I felt truly grateful to the Communist Party and the government, indeed, they delivered us timely. Otherwise, I'd more gravely influenced by extremism and I cannot even imagine what will happen. I really could not tell. After I came back from the center in January, my family, relatives and neighbors and friends all came to visit me, saying, 'How come you look prettier than before, and more energetic,'" Resul said.

"We've found that the idea behind extremism is actually to hope that poverty and ignorance should sustain so that it is easy for them to control and coerce people. In this sense, there are two aspects in learning vocational skills, one is that the trainees could master new survival skills to change their life and lead a good life in the future. The other is that they could come to see clearly the harms that extremism has done to them. This will guarantee that they could keep away from extremism and live a normal life," said Zhang Yonghe, executive dean of Human Rights Education and Research Center at the Southwest University of Political Science and Law.