Amazon sells historical flags of East Turkestan, which prompted me to post this little essay.
This is one of the flags used by Xinjiang when it was
ruled by the warlord Sheng Shicai. Xinjiang (also called East Turkestan) is a
vast area in Inner Asia. Sheng controlled it from 1933 to 1944. Apparently, an
earlier flag of Sheng's regime showed a red star on a yellow field. The yellow
star on a red field is clearly inspired by the flag of the Soviet Union. It's
not clear to me why the star is six-pointed. Both Soviet and Chinese Communists
use five-pointed stars.
Xinjiang is a province of China, but under Sheng it was a de facto Soviet puppet state. Sheng was even a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In 1937, Sheng carried out typical Stalinist purges in Xinjiang, accusing his opponents (most of whom were Turkic Muslims) of being “Trotskyites” and “agents of the Mikado”! The situation on the ground was complex, with many unnatural alliances. For instance, Sheng was propped up both by Red Army detachments and by Russian White Guards who had left Soviet Russia in the wake of the Communist victory.
In the end, Sheng proved to be a fickle ally. During World War II, when it seemed likely that Nazi Germany would defeat the Soviets, Sheng defected to the Kuomintang, the anti-Communist nationalist party of Chiang Kai-shek which nominally controlled all of China. After the Soviet victory at Stalingrad, Sheng attempted to rejoin the pro-Communist side, but Stalin wasn't amused. The Soviet premier actually sent Sheng's secret letter requesting renewed Soviet recognition to Chiang Kai-shek, who forced the duplicitous governor to resign his post and leave Xinjiang.
Sheng didn't leave empty handed, taking with him enormous quantities of gold and silver he had “earned” during his stint as warlord & governor of the western province. Nor was he punished, except by demotion. When Chiang's supporters fled to Taiwan, Sheng went with them and ended his days co-writing anti-Communist books with Americans!
I wonder if he ever explained to the CIA why he used a six-pointed star…
Xinjiang is a province of China, but under Sheng it was a de facto Soviet puppet state. Sheng was even a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In 1937, Sheng carried out typical Stalinist purges in Xinjiang, accusing his opponents (most of whom were Turkic Muslims) of being “Trotskyites” and “agents of the Mikado”! The situation on the ground was complex, with many unnatural alliances. For instance, Sheng was propped up both by Red Army detachments and by Russian White Guards who had left Soviet Russia in the wake of the Communist victory.
In the end, Sheng proved to be a fickle ally. During World War II, when it seemed likely that Nazi Germany would defeat the Soviets, Sheng defected to the Kuomintang, the anti-Communist nationalist party of Chiang Kai-shek which nominally controlled all of China. After the Soviet victory at Stalingrad, Sheng attempted to rejoin the pro-Communist side, but Stalin wasn't amused. The Soviet premier actually sent Sheng's secret letter requesting renewed Soviet recognition to Chiang Kai-shek, who forced the duplicitous governor to resign his post and leave Xinjiang.
Sheng didn't leave empty handed, taking with him enormous quantities of gold and silver he had “earned” during his stint as warlord & governor of the western province. Nor was he punished, except by demotion. When Chiang's supporters fled to Taiwan, Sheng went with them and ended his days co-writing anti-Communist books with Americans!
I wonder if he ever explained to the CIA why he used a six-pointed star…
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