Mamatjan Yusup, Imam of the Mosque in Tuogelake Village, Artux City, Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture

My name is Mamatjan Yusup, and I am the imam of the mosque in Tuogelake Village, Ahu Township, Artux City.

After getting to know Pompeo’s lies and his evil intentions to use Xinjiang affairs to sow discord between China’s ethnic groups, undermine its prosperity and stability, and contain China’s development and growth, I really think that Pompeo is an irresponsible clown of the century! I express my great indignation and firm opposition to his lies.

I am a local born and raised in Artux, and the imam of the village mosque. In 2018, I got the opportunity to study in Xinjiang Islamic Institute, during which I acquired a lot of knowledge and learned that respecting and protecting freedom of religious belief is a basic long-term policy of China.

People of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang have the say in the effectiveness of the deradicalization campaign. There was a time when religious extremism was spread and violent terrorist activities took place frequently in Xinjiang, which seriously undermined the safety of life and property of people of all ethnic groups. Some people were deceived into believing in religious extremism instead of practicing proper faith. They did not laugh at weddings or cry at funerals, and women wore fully covered robes.The deradicalization measures carried out in Xinjiang are aimed at distinguishing extremist ideas from real religions, so as to protect people’s freedom of religious belief. Through anti-terrorism and deradicalization in accordance with the law, Xinjiang has achieved social stability, ethnic unity and economic development, and people of all ethnic groups have significantly increased their sense of attainment, happiness and security. Xinjiang is now very safe, and people of all ethnic groups can live, study and work in peace, and enjoy freedom of religious belief. Isn’t this a demonstration of the government’s protection of human rights?

The Communist Party and the government pay special attention to the basic conditions of the mosques, providing hardened roads, water, electricity and heating facilities for the mosques. For the convenience of the religious believers, the mosques are also equipped with medicine boxes, libraries, radios, televisions and the Internet, and has also built bathrooms and water flushing toilets to provide hot water for the religious people to use. The service facilities of the mosques have been improved and the service functions have been enhanced, so that we can worship in the clean, tidy, spacious and bright mosques.

To be a good imam, one cannot do without extensive knowledge. In my room, the bookcases are filled with books on the Communist Party’s national and religious policies as well as books on religious knowledge. I keep on studying and never stop. In recent years, I have also participated in activities to visit inland cities organized by autonomous region and prefectures. After returning, I used every Jumah to publicize what I saw and heard from the inland cities to religious believers, and let them cherish the hard-won life and strengthen their confidence in a prosperous and better life.

Respecting and protecting human rights is a constitutional principle of China. The counter-terrorism and deradicalization in Xinjiang is an important part of the fight against terrorism of the international community, which is in full compliance with the purposes and principles of the United Nations in combating terrorism and safeguarding basic human rights. Ignoring the facts, Pompeo attacked and slandered Xinjiang by all means for his own gain. He will surely be spurned by the people of the world, and his series of ridiculous lies will be discarded into the dustbin of history.