Xinjiang Province () or Sinkiang Province was a province of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1912 to 1992. Its existence was nominal after the ROC's defeat in the Chinese Civil War and the subsequent incorporation of Xinjiang into the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. The provincial government relocated to Taipei and was reorganized as the Sinkiang Provincial Government Office (), but it was without administrative function. In the PRC, Xinjiang Province was replaced by the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in 1955.
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.ROC Administrative and Claims.jpg. Wikipedia. Map showing the claims of the ROC.
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.Governors of Xinjiang: Yang Zengxin (1912–1928), Jin Shuren (1928–33), Sheng Shicai (1933–44); source:
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. 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. 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. 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. 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 population1933 Uyghurs2,900,173 (77.75%) Kazakhs318,716 (8.55%) Han Chinese202,239 (5.41%) Hui92,146 (2.47%) Kyrgyz65,248 (1.75%) Mongols63,018 (1.69%) Taranchis41,307 (1.11%) Russians13,408 (0.36%) Sibes9,203 (0.25%) Tajiks8,867 (0.24%) Uzbeks7,966 (0.21%) Tatars4,601 (0.12%) Solons2,489 (0.07%) Manchus670 (0.02%) Total3,730,051
List of leaders of Turkestan
Chairperson of the Provincial Government (Mainland era) No. PortraitName(Birth–death)Term of officePolitical Party 1 Yang Zengxin楊增新Yáng Zēngxīn(1864–1928) 18 May 1912 July 7, 1928 Xinjiang cliqueAssassinated. 2 Jin Shuren金樹仁Jīn Shùrén(1879–1941) July 7, 1928 April 12, 1933 Xinjiang cliqueDeposed in a coup. 3 Liu Wenlong劉文龍Liú Wénlóng(1870–1950) April 14, 1933 September 1933Removed from office and placed under house arrest by Sheng Shicai. – Zhu Ruichi朱瑞墀Zhū Ruìchí(1862–1934) September 1933 March 5, 1934Figurehead 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, 1940Figurehead 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 KuomintangRecognized 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 KuomintangResigned. 7 Zhang Zhizhong張治中Zhāng Zhìzhōng(1890–1969) March 1946 June 1947 KuomintangRemoved from office. 8 Masud Sabri麥斯武德(1887–1952) June 1947 January 1949 KuomintangFirst Uighur governor and first non-Han Governor in China during the twentieth century. Appointed during the Ili Rebellion. 9 Burhan Shahidi包爾漢(1894–1989) January 1949 September 26, 1949 KuomintangSurrendered to the People's Liberation Army.
Xinjiang Provincial Government Office era
Chairperson of the Provincial Government No. PortraitName(Birth–death)Term of officePolitical party 1 Yulbars Khan堯樂博士(1889–1971) April 11, 1950 July 27, 1971 KuomintangDied in office.
Director, Xinjiang Provincial Government Office No. PortraitName(Birth–death)Term of officePolitical party 1 Yao Tao-hung堯道宏Yáo Dàohóng(1913–1991) July 27, 1971 ? Kuomintang 2 Hou Chi-yu侯紀峪Hóu Jìyù ? January 16, 1992 KuomintangPost abolished.
References