Mamatimin Tuerhong, Villager at Amax Village, Yuman Town, Akto County, Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture

On January 19, Pompeo once again made fabricated remarks concerning Xinjiang and smeared it regardless of facts, showing his infamous stand as a clown of the century. What he did is nauseating.

Born and growing up in Xinjiang, as an ethnic minority, I must present a real and harmonious Xinjiang to the world. I am Mamatimin Tuerhong, 30 years old and I work in Zhejiang. There are 3 people in my family, including Busalanm Mamatimin, my wife, and Muhemait Mamatimin, my eight year old son. Now, we live a very happy life.

In December 2012, my wife and I embarked on the train for Zhejiang for work, thanks to my friend’s suggestion and owing to the unfavorable situation of my family. During the 8 years work in a textile company in Yuyao, Zhejiang, we were taken good care of, enjoying halal food and having 4 dishes and a bowl of soup as lunch and supper. We lived in apartments for couples which were as comfortable as hotels, equipped with bathing room, washing room, TV, washing machine, refrigerator, beds and other living facilities. We felt very much at home living there and shared our happiness with my family via WeChat. My wife and I visited local sights on weekends and holidays. Influenced by us, young people in our village voluntarily went out of the village and found proper sites for working with stable income. We work in other parts of the country out of willingness in pursuit of our own happiness, which is not “forced labor”at all.

When we came to the textile company, we didn’t know anything about textile. Our poor information about Chinese made us lagging behind in learning the technology. With senior workers’ help and care, my wife and I learned the textile technology and our Chinese improved greatly. Half a year later, my wife and I became heads of the teams because of our excellent performance and achievements in textile. We worked in this company for 8 years and won our manager’s praise and co-workers’ recognition, becoming both master hands in textile technology and administrative management. Our salary saw an increase from RMB 3500 to 5500 yuan, with an annual income being over RMB 100,000 yuan, which was truly the golden key enabling us to realize our happy dream in life.

In October 2020, we left the textile company and Ningpo, our second hometown with reluctance because our parents are in old age and we have to take care of our children. We built two 80-square-meter houses, built a flushing toilet, reorganized the courtyard, fixed a new gate and bought facilities including refrigerator, washing machine, TV, electric cart, three-wheeled electromobile and a car. Our children go to good school.

Now I run a pigeon feeding store by the Bazaar street in the neighboring village and expect my salary and happy life to double. My life is very stable and happy. I want to tell the world my truest experience that we youth in Xinjiang work outside of it out of our own willingness. It is not “forced labor” at all, which is an absolute lie and a vicious plot. I believe that only hard work can create happiness.