China may have recently demolished a Uighur mosque as old as Notre Dame

A Uighur mosque in China's Xinjiang province
(Image credit: Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images)

Much of Paris' Notre Dame cathedral, started in 1163, survived Monday's tragic conflagration. But it's not clear anything remains of the 780-year-old Keriya mosque in China's western Xinjiang province.

Last week, Shawn Zhang, a law student in Canada, posted satellite images suggesting that the Chinese government had demolished the Keriya mosque, believed to date back to 1237. Zhang has used Chinese government documents and open-source satellite images to reveal a huge network of government internment camps for Uighers and other ethnic Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.