A last-minute booking, a furtive cab ride and a spy in the window. For the past year, Paul Mozur has been investigating the story of a son determined to free his mother from a repressive system of detention and surveillance in western China. In doing so, he found a crack in China’s surveillance state — and a mother on her deathbed in Xinjiang.

Today, we hear from the man’s mother for the first time.

Guest: Paul Mozur, a technology reporter for The New York Times based in Shanghai, spoke with Ferkat Jawdat, a Uighur who is an American citizen and lives in Virginia, and his mother in Xinjiang, China. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Background reading:

• The Chinese authorities are using a vast secret system of facial recognition technology to control the Uighurs, a largely Muslim minority in western China. The government may also be taking citizens’ DNA without consent to enhance the system.
• “We must be as harsh as them, and show absolutely no mercy.” Leaked documents reveal how the Chinese authorities orchestrated the crackdown on one million or more ethnic Uighurs.
• If you missed our previous interviews with Mr. Jawdat, here are Part 1 and Part 2.