Xinjiang Province, Republic of China

For other uses, see Xinjiang Province.

Sinkiang Province
新疆省
1912–1992
Provincial Government Seal:
新疆省政府印
Sinkiang Province (red) in the Republic of China (as claimed)
Sinkiang Province (red) in the Republic of China (as claimed)
StatusProvince of the Republic of China (1912–1992)
CapitalTihwa
Capital-in-exileTaipei
History 
• Established
1912
October 13, 1949
• Provincial government functions removed
January 16, 1992
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Xinjiang Province, Qing Empire
Xinjiang
First East Turkestan Republic
Second East Turkestan Republic
Part of a series on the
History of Xinjiang
Ancient period
Medieval and early modern period
Modern period

Xinjiang Province (Chinese: 新疆省; pinyin: Xīnjiāng Shěng) or Sinkiang Province was a nominal province of the Republic of China without administrative function. First set up as a province in 1884 by the Qing dynasty, it was replaced in 1955 by the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. The original provincial government was relocated to Taipei as the Sinkiang Provincial Government Office (新疆省政府辦事處) until its dissolution in 1992.

Administration

The province inherited the borders of the Qing dynasty province, bordering Kansu, Tsinghai, the Mongol Area, Tibet Area and the countries Soviet Union, Afghanistan, India and Pakistan. The claimed boundaries of the province included all of today's Xinjiang and parts of Mongolia, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan.[1]

History

Main articles: Xinjiang § Republic of China, and Incorporation of Xinjiang into the People's Republic of China

In 1912, the Qing dynasty was replaced by the Republic of China. Yuan Dahua, the last Qing governor of Xinjiang, fled. One of his subordinates, Yang Zengxin, took control of the province and acceded in name to the Republic of China in March of the same year. Through Machiavellian politics and clever balancing of mixed ethnic constituencies, Yang maintained control over Xinjiang until his assassination in 1928 after the Northern Expedition of the Kuomintang.[2]

The Kumul Rebellion and other rebellions arose against his successor Jin Shuren in the early 1930s throughout Xinjiang, involving Uyghurs, other Turkic groups, and Hui (Muslim) Chinese. Jin drafted White Russians to crush the revolt. In the Kashgar region on November 12, 1933, the short-lived self-proclaimed First East Turkistan Republic was declared.[3][4] The Hui Kuomintang 36th Division (National Revolutionary Army) destroyed the army of the First East Turkestan Republic at the Battle of Kashgar (1934), bringing the Republic to an end. The Soviet Union invaded the province in the Soviet Invasion of Xinjiang. In the Xinjiang War (1937), the entire province was brought under the control of northeast Manchu warlord Sheng Shicai, who ruled Xinjiang for the next decade with close support from the Soviet Union. In 1944, the President and Premier of China, Chiang Kai-shek, informed by the Soviets of Sheng's intention to join the Soviet Union, decided to shift him out of Xinjiang to Chongqing as the Minister of Agriculture and Forest.[5] More than a decade of Sheng's era had ended. However, a short-lived Soviet-backed Second East Turkestan Republic was established in that year, which lasted until 1949 in what is now Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture (Ili, Tarbagatay and Altay Districts) in northern Xinjiang.

During the Ili Rebellion the Soviet Union backed Uyghur separatists to form the East Turkestan Republic (ETR) in Ili region while the majority of Xinjiang was under the control of the Republic of China.[3] In 1946, the ROC government and the ETR agreed to establish the Coalition Government of Xinjiang Province, although it collapsed shortly after in 1947. The People's Liberation Army entered Xinjiang in 1949 and the Kuomintang commander Tao Zhiyue surrendered the province to them.[4] The original provincial government was relocated to Taipei as the Sinkiang Provincial Government Office (新疆省政府辦事處) to symbolize the ROC's claim of sovereignty over the province; it was eventually dissolved in 1992.

Demographics

Ethnic group Estimated population
1933[6]
Han Chinese 202,239 (5.41%)
Uyghurs 2,900,173 (77.75%)
Kazakhs 318,716 (8.55%)
Hui 92,146 (2.47%)
Kyrgyz 65,248 (1.75%)
Mongols 63,018 (1.69%)
Taranchis 41,307 (1.11%)
Russians 13,408 (0.36%)
Sibes 9,203 (0.25%)
Tajiks 8,867 (0.24%)
Uzbeks 7,966 (0.21%)
Tatars 4,601 (0.12%)
Solons 2,489 (0.07%)
Manchus 670 (0.02%)
Total 3,730,051

List of governors

  Non-partisan/ unknown   Warlords   People's Anti-Imperialist Association   Kuomintang (Nationalist)

Chairperson of the Provincial Government (Mainland era)

No. Portrait Name
(Birth–death) 		Term of office Political Party
1 Yang Zengxin
楊增新
Yáng Zēngxīn
(1864–1928) 		1912 July 7, 1928 Xinjiang clique
Assassinated.
2 Jin Shuren
金樹仁
Jīn Shùrén
(1879–1941) 		July 7, 1928 April 12, 1933 Xinjiang clique
Deposed in a coup.
3 Liu Wenlong
劉文龍
Liú Wénlóng
(1870–1950) 		April 14, 1933 September 1933
Removed from office and placed under house arrest by Sheng Shicai.
– Zhu Ruichi
朱瑞墀
Zhū Ruìchí
(1862–1934) 		September 1933 March 5, 1934
Figurehead chairman appointed by Sheng Shicai and not recognized by the Central government. Died in office.
4 Li Rong
李溶
Lǐ Róng
(1870–1940) 		October 1934 March 21, 1940
Figurehead chairman. Died in office.
5 Sheng Shicai
盛世才
Shèng Shìcái
(1895–1970) 		April 4, 1940 August 29, 1944 People's Anti-Imperialist Association
Kuomintang
Recognized by the Central government only as a duban (military governor), Sheng was de facto ruler of Sinkiang from 1933. In 1940, the Central government recognized him as Provincial chairman. Removed from office.
6 Wu Zhongxin
吳忠信
Wú Zhōngxìn
(1884–1959) 		August 29, 1944 March 29, 1946 Kuomintang
Resigned.
7 Zhang Zhizhong
張治中
Zhāng Zhìzhōng
(1895–1969) 		March 1946 June 1947 Kuomintang
Removed from office.
8 Masud Sabri
麥斯武德
مەسئۇت سابرى
(1887–1952) 		June 1947 January 1949 Kuomintang
First Uighur governor and first non-Han Governor in China during the twentieth century. Appointed during the Ili Rebellion.
9 Burhan Shahidi
包爾漢
بۇرھان شەھىدى
(1894–1989) 		January 1949 September 26, 1949 Kuomintang
Surrendered to the People's Liberation Army.

Xinjiang Provincial Government Office era

Chairperson of the Provincial Government

No. Portrait Name
(Birth–death) 		Term of office Political party
1 Yulbars Khan
堯樂博士
يۇلبارس خان
(1888–1971) 		April 11, 1950 July 27, 1971 Kuomintang
Died in office.

Director, Xinjiang Provincial Government Office

No. Portrait Name
(Birth–death) 		Term of office Political party
1 Yao Tao-hung
堯道宏
Yáo Dàohóng
(1913–1991) 		July 27, 1971 ? Kuomintang
Son of Yulbars Khan.
2 Hou Chi-yu
侯紀峪
Hóu Jìyù
 		? January 16, 1992 Kuomintang
Post abolished.

References

  1. ^ ROC Administrative and Claims.jpg. Wikipedia. Map showing the claims of the ROC.
  2. ^ Governors of Xinjiang: Yang Zengxin (1912–1928), Jin Shuren (1928–33), Sheng Shicai (1933–44); source: "Xinjiang". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
  3. ^ a b Feener, R. Michael (2004). Islam in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives. Religion in Contemporary Cultures. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO. p. 174. ISBN 1-57607-516-8. OCLC 940831123.
  4. ^ a b Bhattacharji, Preeti (May 29, 2012). "Uighurs and China's Xinjiang Region". Council on Foreign Relations. Archived from the original on July 18, 2009. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
  5. ^ Brown, Jeremy (2010). Dilemmas of Victory: The Early Years of the People's Republic of China. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. p. 186. ISBN 9780674033658. OCLC 822561761.
  6. ^ Klimeš, Ondřej. (January 8, 2015). Struggle by the pen : the Uyghur discourse of nation and national interest, c. 1900–1949. Boston. p. 154. ISBN 978-90-04-28809-6. OCLC 900277055.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)