Claim: Ismail Tiliwaldi joined the Communist Party of China in 1973 and was an interpreter before becoming Vice Chairman of the National People's Congress and was succeeded by Nur Berki.
Evidence: An Uyghur, Tiliwaldi began working in 1967 and joined the Communist Party of China in May 1973. He then served as an interpreter at a local commune's tractor factory. He was the chairman of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the head of the Xinjiang's government, from 2003 to 2007 and Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 2008 to 2013. Between 2014 and 2018, he was Vice-Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission and Director of the National Energy Administration, with rank equivalent of a minister.