Xinjiang clique

Chinese warlord clique (1911–1944)

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Xinjiang Clique

Sinkiang

Flag of the Xinjiang People's Anti-Imperialist Association (1933–1944)

Provincial Government Seal

Active| 1911–1944
Disbanded| 1944
Country|  Republic of China
Allegiance| Beiyang government (1912–1915, 1916–1928)
Empire of China (1915–1916)
Nationalist government (1928–1934, 1942–1944)
Soviet Union (1934–1942)
Type| Warlord faction
Motto(s)| Always loyal (永远忠诚)
Engagements| 1911 Revolution
Xinjiang Wars

* Kumul Rebellion
* Soviet invasion of Xinjiang
* Islamic rebellion in Xinjiang (1937)

Commanders
Provincial Governor (1912–1928)| Yang Zengxin
Provincial Chairman (1928–1933)| Jin Shuren
Military Governor (1933–1944)| Sheng Shicai

Military unit

The Xinjiang clique was a military clique that ruled Xinjiang during China's warlord era. Unlike other cliques, its leaders were from outside the province.

## History

[edit]

During the Xinhai Revolution in 1911, the Qing governor fled from Dihua (Ürümqi). A band of Yunnanese led by Yang Zengxin quelled the rebellion and established himself as the provincial leader. President Yuan Shikai recognized Yang as governor. Yang was one of the few who supported Yuan's attempt to become emperor. During the National Protection War, he purged officers who sympathized with the Yunnan clique's leader Cai E. After Yuan's death, he recognized whichever government ruled in Beijing and maintained an isolationist and neutrality policy which kept Xinjiang away from the upheavals experienced in the rest of China.

Ma Fuxing and Ma Shaowu, both of them Hui Chinese, were members of the clique. They held military and political positions under Yang.

Yang held absolute power in the region and kept the keys to the radio station on him at all times. He read every message himself and got rid of any which he didn't like.[1]

Yang's future deputy, Fan Yaonan,[1] had been studying in Japan when he was appointed as military attache of Xinjiang by Li Yuanhong.[2][3] Fan heavily disliked Yang's government policy of keeping the people ignorant and tried to bring in more progressive ideas to the region.[2] Li Yuanhong hoped that Fan would eventually kill Yang and replace him as governor of Xinjiang. Aspiring for higher positions, Fan sped up the process and on July 7, 1928, days after Yang recognized the Nationalist (KMT) government in Nanjing, Fan shot Yang dead during a banquet at the Xinjiang Academy of Politics and Law.[1][3] Also present at the banquet were Chinese officials along with the Soviet consul-general and his wife. The consul-general and his wife were able to escape.[1]

Following Yang's assassination, Jin Shuren, Yang's second in command, had Fan and his coconspirators killed. After that, he declared himself the provincial governor and was quickly recognized by the KMT. Jin wholly mismanaged the province by causing high inflation, banning the hajj, and replacing local officials with Han officials. In 1931, the alienated Muslim majority rebelled against Jin.[3] Gansu warlord Ma Zhongying of the Hui Ma clique invaded in support of the rebellion. Soon, various other groups rebelled against Jin, often fighting against each other including the breakaway First East Turkestan Republic.

Jin was deposed by mutineers in 1933 and was succeeded by Sheng Shicai. Sheng was not a protégé of either Yang or Jin. He was initially an officer under Guo Songling and defected with Guo to the Guominjun. He was appointed by Nanjing to serve under Jin as late as 1930. The war continued unabated with Nanjing unable to resolve the conflict. Frustrated, Sheng turned to the Soviet Union in 1934. With Soviet support, Ma Hushan was defeated in 1937. Sheng turned Xinjiang into a Soviet protectorate and safe haven for the Chinese Communist Party.

With Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, Sheng decided to rejoin the Kuomintang, expelling Soviet advisors and executing communists. Chiang Kai-shek couldn't trust Sheng, who tried renegotiating with Joseph Stalin, so he deposed him and installed direct rule in 1944. The new KMT administration then faced a rebellion that formed the Second East Turkestan Republic.

## See also

[edit]

* Warlord era
* Incorporation of Xinjiang into the People's Republic of China

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d Wood 2002, p. 224.
2. ^ a b Unesco 1992, p. 390.
3. ^ a b c Starr 2015, p. 71.

## Works cited

[edit]

* History of Civilizations of Central Asia. Unesco. 1992. p. 390\. ISBN 9789231039850.
* Wood, Frances (2002). The Silk Road: Two Thousand Years in the Heart of Asia. University of California Press. p. 224\. ISBN 9780520243408.
* Starr, Stephen (2015). Xinjiang: China's Muslim Borderland. Taylor & Francis. p. 71\. ISBN 9781317451372.

* v
* t
* e

Warlord Era and warlordism during the Nanjing decade

| 1915–1924| 1925–1934| Factions

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| 1911–1914| Bai Lang Rebellion

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1913| Second Revolution
1915| Twenty-One Demands
1915–1916| Empire of China (Yuan Shikai)
National Protection War
1916| Death of Yuan Shikai
1917| Manchu Restoration
1917–1922| Constitutional Protection Movement
1917–1929| Golok rebellions
1918–1920| Siberian intervention
1919| Paris Peace Conference
Shandong Problem
May Fourth Movement
1919–1921| Occupation of Outer Mongolia
1920| Zhili–Anhui War
1920–1921| Guangdong–Guangxi War
1920–1926| Spirit Soldier rebellions
1921| 1st National CPC Congress
1921–1922| Washington Naval Conference
1922| First Zhili–Fengtian War
1923–1927| First United Front
1923| Lincheng Outrage
1924| Second Zhili–Fengtian War
Canton Merchants' Corps Uprising
Beijing Coup

| 1925| Yunnan–Guangxi War
May Thirtieth Movement

|

1925–1926| Anti-Fengtian War
Canton–Hong Kong strike
1926| Zhongshan Warship Incident
1926–1928| Northern Expedition
Nanjing–Wuhan Split
Nationalist-Communist Civil War
1927| Nanking incident of 1927
1927| Shanghai Commune of 1927
1927| Shanghai massacre
1927| July 15 Incident
1927–1930| Muslim conflict in Gansu
1928| Jinan incident
Huanggutun incident
Looting of the Eastern Mausoleum
Northeast Flag Replacement
1928–1929| Third Red Spears' uprising in Shandong
1929| Chiang-Gui War
Warlord Rebellion in northeastern Shandong (incl. Beijing Revolt)
Sino-Soviet conflict
1930| Central Plains War
1930–1932| Sino-Tibetan War / Qinghai–Tibet War
1931–1935| Kumul Rebellion / Soviet invasion of Xinjiang
1932| Han–Liu War
1932| Two-Liu war
1934| War in Ningxia

Beiyang
Anhui
Zhili
Fengtian (National Pacification Army)

Zhili Army
Shanxi
Guominjun

Xinjiang
Yunnan
Sichuan
Old Guangxi
New Guangxi
Guangdong
Guizhou
Kuomintang (KMT)
Communist Party (CCP)

Republic of China (1912–1949)
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