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368 REVOI~UTIONARY CHANGE REVOLUTIONARY CHANGE 369 autonomy ofthe dissident IIi, Altai, and Chuguchak districts, and volved in the military action, and this was IOllowea oy a also for a proportional representation of those districts in a re­ by Ulan Bator that Mongolian troops had attacked Sinkiang; on organized provincial government. the contrary, said Ulan Bator, Peitashan was in MPR territory The government envisaged by the January agreement was and the Chinese had done the attacking, thus causing the border inaugurated on July 1, 1946, with Chang Chih-chung formally incident. Those initial broadcast responses were followed by a for­ assuming his post as provincial chairman. The two vice chairmen, mal Soviet note delivered to the National government at Nanking as chosen by the popular groups, were the Tatar Burhan Shahidi suggesting that an aggravation of the conflict might call into op­ and the Uighur Akhmedjan Kasimov. Masud Sabri, a wealthy eration the Soviet-Mongol mutual-defense treaty of 1936. Mini­ who had since 1935 been a member of the KMT Central ster of Information Hollington Tong on June 18 announced Executive Committee and had long been associated with the re­ had actionary C-C Clique,* was given the post of supervisory com­ The Mongol version of developments appears to have been missioner for Sinkiang. A Soviet source would later charge that closer to the facts than was the Chinese. Usman Bator had broken Masud Sabri was a Pan-Turanian who had long served, seriatim, away from the IIi insurgent group in April and lost most of his the intelligence services of Germany, Britain, Japan, and the following. General Sung Hsi-lien, the Nanking commander in United States.Hi Turki leaders, Kazakhs, , Mongols, Dun­ chief in Sinkiang, thereupon enlisted the rebel on the Nationalist gans, and Chinese received other appointments in the new gov­ side. Usman and his force of half a hundred men participated in ernment at Urumchi. the Nationalist strike against an MPR frontier post, and the at­ In May, Chang Chih-chung resigned the post of pro­ tackers overran the Mongolian position, killing the officer in com­ vincial chairman, and was succeeded by Masud Sabri the C-C mand. But the initial success was due to exploitation of the sur­ man. Masud organized a new government at Urumchi at the end factor against a weak military position. The ofthe month, and C-C policies were given fuller rein. Outraged at cavalry and planes against the invaders, and the the open flouting of their nationalistic aspirations in disregard of man force was thrust out of the border region. The Mongols were the commitments earlier assumed, Akhmedjan Kasimov and his thus left in possession of the territory they claimed and it was followers first formally protested the changed orientation. This then that the Chinese side took their complaint to the world air­ move being fruitless, the IIi group in July once more went into waves. Maps going back as far as 1920, including the official Chi­ open revolt against the Chinese authority, and in August, 1947, nese Postal Map, indicate that the boundary in the Peitashan area ,the "coalition" government at Urumchi fell apart. Chang Chih­ was far from being clearly defined. But the so-called "Peitashan ,/chung remained in Urumchi to assist Masud, for the time being, Incident" rested, a clear victory for the Mongolian People's Re- in the arduous task of government. -J Early in June, a clash had occurred on Sinkiang's border with Peitashan lnCHlent was only a temporary diversion from the Mongolian People's Republic. The News Agency duly the main business at hand. After the IIi delegation departed reported that, on June 5, a Mongolian force in regimental strength Urumchi with the quite evident intent ofnever returning, Chang ( supported by four planes marked with the Soviet red star had ('hih-chung went through the motions of striving for reconcilia­ begun an invasion of Sinkiang in the vicinity of Peitashan. The t ion. In a letter of September 1, 1947, addressed to Akhmedjan National government, through its ambassador at Moscow, pro­ Kasimov at lIi,17 Chang remarked the circumstance that talk in tested to the against the invasion. The Moscow the Ining (Kuldja) area was often of "running dogs of the Hans" radio broadcast a Tass denial that Soviet planes had been in­ ;md "reactionary elements." He presumed that such language must be based upon the premise that those supporting the Hans were reactionary while those in opposition were '" A KMT faction so named for the powerful, conservative brothers who led HIlII dominated it, KMT organization chief eh'en Kuo-fu and Minister of Educatiull hat those friendly to the and opposing the Hans were rev­ eh'en Li-fu. (,I utionary also, whereas friendly to the Hans and opposing 370 REVOLUTIONARY CHANGE the Soviets were "reactionary elements." Chang said thzi: this was in fact the significance of the usage, it was in gra\<" ,.~ ror, because China was "your [the Turki] fatherland," while ::-.'" • Soviet Union was for China a "friendly country." Chang ace...: •" that the Turki phraseology was not susceptible oflogical expLi~.~ tion; but if the Turki idea was thatSinkiang was not China·s. ::-.":-:,, there was nothing to be said. - Akhmedjan Kasimov and Rahim-jan Sabir-hadji, in beh,i:~'f ..-- the IIi group, replied (lengthily) to Chang's letter only in mia·, ~: ... tober. Their letter revealed the vast chasm that yawned bet\\rt': Tw the Chinese rulers and their Turki subjects, and it seems to l-..!". ~ elicited no immediate response from the Chinese side. Cr..!:--.< .. -I Chih-chung at last left Urumchi to return to Nanking< Fa::.:,,-.< tI. any resolution of the issue of government, the situation rema: ;."'; ... stalemated, with the IIi regime lacking military strength to ('l:~ lenge the provincial forces, and the Chinese, given particu:.::.: 1 ... the deteriorating military situation in China Proper, in no ;:.... -­ 0. tion to embark on an all-out campaign to suppress the rebe:::·:-. .... On December 31, 1948, Burhan Shahidi succeeded Masud ::::_,~,.­ ... as Sinkiang provincial chairman. But by this time Nation,L_':' .-ell power over China as a whole was in collapse. 0.. In January, 1949, to the accompaniment of the stagge;::.. :w. Nationalist defeats on the battlefield and the retirement of Ch: :.:..{ cr. Kai-shek from his position as head of the Chinese state. CL:.... ,-Chih-chung returned to Urumchi to participate in negotiat: .:» .-:1>. oJ with the Soviet side for a new agreement to replace the ten·:. 'f'.L:" ~ treaty signed by Sheng Shih-ts'ai in 1939 governing Sino-S< -. :~ 3:. 11 ,economic collaboration in Sinkiang. The advantage to the Sm:""., Cld 1 .jof having a new agreement to replace the old was obviou.s .'.!:~ -u cow could confront any successor regime with a valid docur:-....~ O:.a that would at least have to be taken into consideration Ir. :~ ~"':; working out of any new Sino-Soviet relationship. But the'\"a:.:o:, alists, standing at the very eve of the expiry of their Mand;::c ;-/ Heaven, clearly could derive no advantage whatsoever froT:". ~. tering now upon treaty negotiations with the power who:,-<:- .;.;. proaches Chiang Kai-shek had spurned a short three years Ix-::.~ After several sessions with the Soviet negotiators, Chang C:-.. ~< chung returned to Lanchow. In May, Nanking and Moscow a ..-~ on a five-year extension ofSoviet rights to operate the airlJ :.t" : ... tween Urumchi and Alma-Ata, but nothing more was acr::t··.'!'I! in the months when the Nationalist regime was crumbliniZ