United Province of Tsinghai and Kansu (6.0)

### Motto

万物非主，唯有真主，穆罕默德是真主的使者There is no god but God and Muhammad is the Messenger of God

## Government

### Government Type

Constitutional Republic with Stratocratic Elements

### Head of Government

Chairman of the Provincial Assembly Hu Aputula

## Demographics

### Ethnic Groups

Han (66.43%), Tibetan (24.50%), Mongol (6.44%), Other (2.64%)

### Major Religions

None/Chinese Folk Religion (26%), Islam (30%), Christianity (4%), Tibetan Buddhism (23%)

## Traits

### Weak

Nationalist, Authoritarian, Collectivist, Militarist, Traditionalist

The **United Province of Tsinghai and Kansu** (Chinese (simplified): 青海甘肃联合省) also known as **Tsinghai-Kansu** (Chinese (simplified): 青海甘肃) or **Tsingkan** (Chinese (simplified): 青甘) is a province and warlord government in the Republic of China. The province was ruled by Governor Ma Bufang from 1946 until his death in 1975.

## history

### Chinese Civil War in Qinghai and Gansu (1945-1951)

In the aftermath of the American invasion of Japan and the subsequent retreat of Japanese forces from China alongside the rising waters, it seemed that Qinghai and Gansu were spared from God’s wrath. This left Ma Bufang, the loyal and nationalist Hui Governor of Qinghai. Under orders from Chiang Kai-Shek, Ma Bufang was appointed Governor of Gansu alongside Qinghai. Ma Bufang began recruiting for a reorganized 26th Division of the National Revolutionary Army, which would act as his main source of power and legitimacy. With Chiang Kai-Shek’s announcing of Victory against the Japanese on June 17 and his subsequent announcing of a campaign against the Communists on July 30th, Ma Bufang began his effort to oust the CPC from the Shaan-Gan-Ning Border Region. Although the CPC was able to mostly evacuate and retreat to the south or north, Ma Bufang was able to successfully expel or capture the remaining CPC. With his 26th Division victorious in combat, Ma Bufang returned to his province, aiming to turn it into a model province. With permission from Chiang Kai-Shek, the provincial governments of Qinghai and Gansu were merged into the United Province of Qinghai and Gansu.

Although Qinghai and Gansu are mainly untouched by the flood, despite some flooding of the Yellow River, refugees and survivors from the east use the Yellow River to travel west, towards Gansu and Qinghai. Refugees flooded into the province, mainly settling in Hezhou and Lanzhou. The provincial government used welfare to convert some of these refugees into Muslims, enticing them to settle permanently in Tsinghai-Kansu rather than return to the ruined east.

### Tibetan Rebellion (1951-1959)

#### Beginning of the Rebellion

The Tibetan population of southern Tsinghai had grown resentful of the prostelyization and sinicization campaign conducted by the provincial government. The Chinese Communists, wishing to reignite their strength i nsome way, used this as an opportunity to forment a revolt among Tsingkan Tibetans. Fighting began in August of 1951, when Tibetan peasants led by a CPC officer ambushed and defeated a NRA patrol near Ma Ch'in.

#### Xi'an Convention

When Chiang Kai-Shek was assassinated by communist agents in May 16 1956, General Ma Bufang was distraught. Despite still dealing with the brutal Tibetan and Mongolian rebellion, he attended the Xi’an Convention in October of 1956, giving command of the 26th Division to his son Ma Jiyuan. Ma Jiyuan continued the fight against the rebels.

### Xi'an Constitution Era (1959-1964)

With Ma Dunjing's storming of the Xi'an Convention on March 10, 1959, Ma Bufang assists the pro-Xi'an Constitution forces and heads to Sichuan with the other pro-Constitution forces. At Chongqing, he assists Kung Hsiang-hsi and Tian Songyao in creating a constitutional and civilian administration for China, getting them to agree to keep Ma Bufang as Governor of Qinghai-Gansu as long as he agreed to provincial elections and reforms. With this agreement, he left Chongqing to return to Hanzou.

Back in Hanzou, the government is reorganized, with Bufang's loyal bureaucrats and officers beginning a plan to democratize. In order to end national tensions, he allows the formation of the Amdo Tibetan Autonomous Region made up of the southern counties of Qinghai. Crackdown on Buddhism is ended, though Ma Bufang still ensures that Tibetan Muslims have an upper hand in positions of power in the ATAR.

Reluctantly, Bufang allows the creation of other political parties besides the KMT, CDSP, and CYP. To ensure that the Hui and other Muslims are not divided, Ma Bufang uses his influence to ensure that no Islamic parties are created, ensuring that Hui will continue to vote KMT. On August 9th, the government declares that provincial elections will be held in May 1960.

Culturally, Qinghai and Gansu prospered under the constitutional era. Restrictions on press and association were lifted, Buddhists were able to worship freely and their monks able to use monasteries in peace. Restrictions on Salafists were similarly lifted, much to the chagrin of the Yihewani, Gedimu, Jahriyya, and Khufiyya. Beginning in early 1960, an anti-Salafist coalition would form to combat the Sailaifengye, with both sides using paramilitary tactics. Ma Bufang disceretly began supporting the anti-Salafists.

With elections in May 1960, Ma Bufang ran and won his first election as Governor, and he set up a democratic KMT-led cabinet under Deng Baoshan.

### Blueshirt Reaction (1964-1968)

After the dissolution of the Chengdu government after the Deng Xihou and Liu Wenhui coup in early 1964, Qinghai-Gansu was sent into a crisis. Ma Bufang views the YLTPP in the east in Beijing with suspicion, especially with their purging campaign across 1964. However, with fears that he and the KMT will be overthrown by the opposition now that his main backers in Sichuan are gone, Ma Bufang offers his allegiance to the Beijing government of the Republic of China and invites advisors from the YLTPP to help rule. Many pro-YLTPP officers move to Qinghai-Gansu and begin a new campaign against the opposition. All other political parties besides the KMT are banned, and the Amdo Tibetan Autonomous Region is abolished. This would be the beginning of a three-year Reign of Terror by the Blueshirts. Although Ma Bufang sympathized with some of the YLTPP's ideology, he quickly saw that these tactics would spell disaster for the province.

Ma Bufang and his loyalists would quickly realize that things were getting out of hand. However, the YLTPP had seen massive popularity among the non-Muslim Han, which makes up a majority of the population. Non-Muslim leaders flocked to the YLTPP, encouraged by their strong rhetoric to reunite China. Fearing that directly opposing the YLTPP would see Ma Bufang overthrown, the Ma loyalists would begin to forment a strategy based around

### Nationalist Corrective Campaign and the Islamic New Life Movement (1968-1975)

With the Blueshirt officers and most of their loyalists being arrested or exiled back to Hebei, Ma Bufang and the Ma loyalists wanted things to return back to normal. However, the YLTPP in the east has their popularity growing massively due to their successes. Fearful that a resurgent YLTPP will topple him, he quickly begins his very own campaign to ensure loyalty throughout the province. In April of 1968, the Provincial government contacts Tibetan autonomist leaders and offers to restore the ATAR as long as the Tibetan leaders pledge allegiance to Ma Bufang and assist them against the YLTPP.

Wang Shih-t'ai, a former CPC member that had defected to Ma Bufang in 1948, was appointed by Bufang as the Provicial Party Secretary of the Chinese Nationalist Party in May of 1968. Bufang delegated the everyday running of the Nationalist Corrective Campaign to Wang Shih-t'ai, while he himself would focus on the Islamic New Life Movement. Wang Shitai had remained steadfastly loyal to Bufang during the Constitutional Era and Blueshirt Era, and was seen as a hardline loyalist, despite his past as a defector from the Communists. In September of 1968, Wang and the Tsinghai-Kansu KMT published the **Five Corrections of the Nationalist Corrective Campaign:**

1. Upholding the Three Principles of the People (Minzu, Minquan, Minsheng)
2. Rights of the Nations of the Chinese Nation to learn their language and practice their religion, equality between nations.
3. Economic cooperation with Tsinghai-Kansu with the other provinces of China.
4. Upholding of the Party-State of the Chinese National Party

As the National Corrective Campaign was underway, Ma Bufang and the Ihowani begin their **Islamic New Life Movement**, a movement to revitalize the Hui and other Muslims. Inspired by Chiang Kai Shek's New Life Movement in the 1930s, the Islamic New Life Movement was based around upholding a mix of Islamic and Confucian values and virtues. A shift began towards the use of more Islamic jurisprudence and law, and the introduction of stronger proselytization campaigns to convert Han, Tibetans, and Mongols to Islam.

### Ma Jiyuan: The Two Whatevers and the Three Righteous Movements (1975-1985)

"We will resolutely uphold whatever policy decisions General-Governor Ma made, and unswervingly follow whatever instructions General-Governor Ma gave.

## Politics

### Factions of the KMT in Tsinkan

#### Constitutionalists

The Constitutionalist faction began in 1959 with Ma Pufang's return from the Xi'an Conference and the setting up of the Xi'an Constitution. The supporters of the Chungking government rallied around Ma Pufang his protegé, Teng Pao-shan. Teng Pao-shan advocated for and began completely free elections and ended all restrictions on political parties, freedom of speech, and freedom of press.

With the arrival of the YTLPP in Tsinkan and the end of the Chungking government in 1964, the Constitutionalists in the party were sidelined, with the more radical Constitutionalists expelled altogether. Teng Pao-shan, who still had the favor of Ma Pufang, was put under protective house arrest in Sinking to ensure his safety against Blueshirts. During the YTLPP period, most of the constitutionalists continued to organize only underground, but came back to the public during Ma Pufang's self-coup against the YTLPP in 1968. The Constitutionalists requested that Ma Pufang