Xinjiang clique

Xinjiang Clique
新疆 Sinkiang
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)	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

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

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

• Warlord era

References

Works cited

• 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
1911–1914 Bai Lang Rebellion 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 Ma Xinjiang Yunnan Sichuan Old Guangxi New Guangxi Guangdong Guizhou Kuomintang (KMT) Communist Party (CCP)

Republic of China (1912–1949)