Authorities in China are offering cash rewards for everything from "violent terrorism training" to growing long beards, the latest security regulations in the Xinjiang region that critics say target Muslims.

The rewards are part of a social stability campaign in a region beset by violence that the government blames on Islamist militants and separatists who want to establish an independent state called East Turkestan in the far western region.

Uighurs are Turkic-language speaking Muslims. Many of them chafe at Chinese controls on their culture and religion. Unrest in Xinjiang has killed more than 100 people in the past year. Uighur exiles and many rights groups trace the cause of unrest to government policies, including curbs on Islam and the Uighur people's culture and language. The government denies those accusations.

Members of the public can earn rewards by reporting on a range of more than 50 activities, according to a notice on a government website for Shaya county in mid-April and carried in state media this week.