Monthly Archives: March 2010
“[I was] guilty of espionage crimes against the Chinese and Russian people”: The Fate of the British Consulate in Xinjiang, 1949-1950
In light of the recent post on Douglas Mackiernan, and a not-so recent post on the U.S. Consulate in Urumqi (Dihua 迪化), I thought the following documents on the British in Xinjiang might be interesting for readers, as they offer … Continue reading
Filed under Liberation, Xinjiang
Douglas Mackiernan, Osman Batur, and the ‘Kazakh Exodus’
In June of 1947, the Mongolian People’s Republic with Soviet backing bombed a Chinese garrison in Beita Shan (北塔山)/Baitik Bogda. Beita Shan is 200 miles east of Urumqi, near the Xinjiang-Mongolian border. The U.S. State Department immediately suspected that the purpose … Continue reading
Filed under Liberation, Xinjiang
Wang Enmao, Xinjiang’s Little Emperor?
When Wang Enmao (王恩茂) first entered Xinjiang in autumn 1949, he became the top ranking Chinese official in southern Xinjiang. His home base for several years was Kashgar, until he was promoted to the First Secretary of the Xinjiang Sub-Bureau … Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized, Xinjiang
Xinjiang and the War to Resist America and Aid Korea
Despite the distance between Xinjiang and the Korean Peninsula, the Chinese Communist Party still instituted the national ”Campaign to Resist America and Aid Korea” (抗美援朝运动) inside of the province from 1950 through 1953. Scholar Chen Jian has said that the … Continue reading
Filed under Anti-Americanism, Xinjiang
Xinjiang, the PRC, and Egypt: The Curious Case of Ma Hanbing’s “The Nile River”
Every so often during research, seemingly unrelated threads come together flawlessly. Take, for instance, my interest in the Deputy Secretary of Xinjiang’s Propaganda Department Ma Hanbing (新疆分局宣传部副部长马寒冰). Ma, from what I gathered, served in that department from 1949 to 1953 … Continue reading
Filed under Cultural diplomacy, Xinjiang
Burhan Shahidi
Burhan Shahidi (包尔汉) was born October 3, 1894 near Kazan, Tartarstan in a village called Aksu (creating some confusion because Xinjiang also has an Aksu). He relocated to Xinjiang in the 1920s to do business. He left Xinjiang again when … Continue reading
Filed under Burhan Shahidi, Xinjiang
Säypiddin Äzizi
Wang Lixiong: Peacocks, right. Mu-he-ta-er: Yes, peacocks, his [Säypiddin's] garden had peacocks. When the peacocks had to shit, they usually went to next door to Li Peng’s yard, and after they were done shitting they came back [to Säypiddin's garden]. … Continue reading
Filed under Saypiddin Azizi, Xinjiang
