Urikasi Ayiti，School of Mechanical Engineering of Xinjiang University

On January 19, his last day in office, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo made his extreme anti-China performance by declaring absurdly that China had committed "genocide" and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang. The vicious rumor from such an anti-China politician labeled undoubtedly as the "worst secretary of state in American history", further confirms the degree of craziness in his "last moment".

Pompeo’s so-called declaration is nothing but a piece of wastepaper. It is totally contrary to what I have seen and experienced in Xinjiang. As is known that, education is the most important people's livelihood. The development of ethnic minority education has always been regarded by the Chinese government as one of the priorities of educational work. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, Department of Minority Education has been set up within the Ministry of Education. The Chinese government has formulated many preferential policies, and those for education are among the important ones. When formulating educational development plans, the priority has been given to ensuring the development scale and speed of minority education; when arranging funds and infrastructure investment, the priority has been given to ensuring the development needs of minority education; as for the basic construction of school buildings, teaching staffs and teaching materials, the priority has also been given to minority education.

After the resumption of the college entrance examination in 1977, Xinjiang implemented such preferential policies as setting local examination and local entrance mark for minority students. In 1980, minority student classes were established in some national key universities as a special measure to develop minority education. And afterwards, a preferential policy of “pro rata admission” has been implemented in colleges and universities in Xinjiang. These policies have played a very important role in the development of higher education for ethnic minorities and in the training of ethnic minority talents in Xinjiang. My parents, my wife and I have all benefited from the above preferential policies. In 1959, my parents went from the villages in Kashgar and Yili respectively to Urumuqi to attend their colleges, which has changed their lives, and thus mine.

Since 2000, the Chinese government has implemented a preferential policy of encouraging senior high schools of inland areas of the country to hold classes of students from Xinjiang, providing an opportunity for ethnic minority students mainly from Xinjiang's farming and pasturing areas to enjoy high-quality education. Such a preferential policy has played an important role in cultivating outstanding ethnic minority talents in large numbers, and in consolidating the great unity and the solidarity among all ethnic groups. When I was a Ph.D. student at Xi’an Jiaotong University from 2003 to 2008, I found that from the year of 2004, students from senior high school classes held in inland areas were admitted to my university, and four years later, some of them further their postgraduate education at this university. Their excellent performance fully proves the good effect of this special policy in the cultivation of ethnic minority talents. In 2006, China started to implement the "Program for High-Caliber Personnel from Ethnic Minorities", intensifying its efforts in the cultivation of high-level talents of ethnic minorities. In 2010, the Chinese government implemented 8 new pairing-assistance policies, including training PhD students, government-sponsored oversea education for colleges and universities in western China, which have provided stronger support for the cultivation of high-level ethnic minority talents.

Since 2010, the relevant state ministries and 19 pairing-assistance provinces and municipalities have continuously increased their support and assistance for the development of Xinjiang's education, and introduced many special policies. With their strenuous effort, the local education has developed rapidly.

There is no doubt that the Chinese government’s emphasis on minority education is second to none in the world today. China’s tremendous achievements in minority education have greatly improved the scientific and cultural quality of ethnic minorities, improved their living conditions, and promoted the economic and social development of ethnic regions. Are these achievements and progress what Pompeo called "genocide" and "crimes against humanity"? How could he shut his eyes and ears to these achievements and progress? Pompeo lied in his teeth and sowed discord, and he is turning himself into the joke of the century.