Xinjiang Province, Republic of China

Xinjiang Province (Chinese: 新疆省; pinyin: Xīnjiāng Shěng) or Sinkiang Province refers to a former province of the Republic of China. First set up in 1884 as a province of 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.

Xinjiang Province 新疆省
1912–1992
Sinkiang Province (red) in the Republic of China (as claimed)
Status	Province of the Republic of China (1912–1992)
Capital	Tihwa Taipei (Provincial Government in exile, 1950–1992)
Historical era	20th century
• Established	1912
• Surrender to the People's Liberation Army	13 October 1949
• Dissolution of the Sinkiang Provincial Government Office	16 January 1992
Area
1928	1,711,931 km^2 (660,980 sq mi)
Population
• 1928	2550000
Preceded by Succeeded by Xinjiang Province, Qing Empire Xinjiang Province, People's Republic of China
Today part of	People's Republic of China (XUAR)  Mongolia (Bayan-Ölgii Province; Khovd Province)  Tajikistan (Gorno-Badakhshan)  Afghanistan (Wakhan Corridor)  Pakistan (Gilgit-Baltistan)

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] The province had an area of 1,711,931 km².

History

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 Second East Turkistan Republic (2nd ETR) in Ili region while the majority of Xinjiang was under Republic of China Kuomintang control.[3] 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]
Uyghurs	2,900,173 (77.75%)
Kazakhs	318,716 (8.55%)
Han Chinese	202,239 (5.41%)
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   Communist Party of the Soviet Union   Kuomintang (Nationalist)

Chairperson of the Provincial Government (Nationalist Government)

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–death)	Term of office		Political Party
1		Yang Zengxin 楊增新 Yáng Zēngxīn (1864–1928)	1912	7 July 1928	Xinjiang clique
			Assassinated.
2		Jin Shuren 金樹仁 Jīn Shùrén (1879–1941)	7 July 1928	12 April 1933	Xinjiang clique
			Deposed in a coup.
3		Liu Wenlong 劉文龍 Liú Wénlóng (1870–1950)	14 April 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	5 March 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	21 March 1940
			Figurehead Chairman. Died in office.
5		Sheng Shicai 盛世才 Shèng Shìcái (1895–1970)	4 April 1940	29 August 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)	29 August 1944	29 March 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
9		Burhan Shahidi 包爾漢 بۇرھان شەھىدى (1894–1989)	January 1949	26 September 1949	Kuomintang
			Surrendered to the People's Liberation Army.

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)	11 April 1950	27 July 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	27 July 1971	?	Kuomintang
			Son of Yulbars Khan.
2		Hou Chi-yu 侯紀峪 Hóu Jìyù	?	16 January 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. 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. Bhattacharji, Preeti (May 29, 2012). "Uighurs and China's Xinjiang Region". Council on Foreign Relations. 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.