浪花直播

In the West, Xinjiang lacks Tibet鈥檚 luster. Here鈥檚 one reason why.

In April 1950, Owen Lattimore, one of America鈥檚 most esteemed Sinologists, received a request for a copy of his brand new book, .

Such requests for Pivot of Asia鈥攁n insightful work on the history, culture, and economy of Xinjiang (Sinkiang), a province in Northwest China sharing a long land border with the Soviet Union鈥攚ere probably not rare, but this one was different.

, the letter was written by a group of three political refugees from Xinjiang. The authors of the letter asked not just for a copy of the book; more importantly, they wanted Lattimore and his 鈥渇riends鈥� in the American government to support Xinjiang in the wake of the Chinese revolution.

The names of the letter鈥檚 three signatories鈥擬uhammad Amin Bughra, Isa Yusuf Alptekin, and Colonel Adam Sabri鈥攚ould have been immediately familiar to Lattimore, an expert on China鈥檚 ethnic borderlands. Describing themselves as 鈥淭urkestanis,鈥� the trio of Uyghur men had long served the Chinese Nationalist Government in Xinjiang.

When the Chinese Nationalist Army in Xinjiang capitulated in September 1949, the three men faced an uncertain future. Accompanied by some 600 other Uyghur politicians and family members, they fled the provincial capital, Urumqi, just days before troops of the Chinese Communist Party arrived.

Writing from India, Bughra, Alptekin, and Sabri styled themselves rather pitifully, telling Lattimore they were 鈥渂ereft of all valuables鈥� and 鈥減enniless.鈥� Despite their material condition, the men remained committed to telling the world of Xinjiang鈥檚 plight under the repressive regime of the Chinese and Soviet communists. For this reason, they explained their delight that Secretary of State Dean Acheson had, at a , publicly shamed the Soviet Union for (allegedly) 鈥渄etaching鈥� Xinjiang from China and turning it into a semi-colony.

Although Acheson鈥檚 Press Club speech is remembered by historians for what he did not say about the US defense perimeter in Asia鈥攚hether South Korea was included鈥擷injiang鈥檚 exile community probably did not notice this blunder. (, but that鈥檚 a story for a different day.) Acheson鈥檚 sharp words about Soviet imperialism in China鈥檚 western borderlands鈥攎ade while Mao Zedong was in Moscow no less鈥攕ignaled to Uyghur exiles in India that the United States stood by Xinjiang, even as the Cold War descended upon Asia.

From Lattimore, Bughra, Alptekin, and Sabri wanted material and financial support. Addressing the China-expert as an 鈥淎dviser to the State Department,鈥� they asked for 鈥淸help] from you or your friends,鈥� noting that in the midst of the difficult journey to India, they and their 600 followers had lost all worldly possessions. If they were to survive in India鈥攍et alone agitate for the independence of Xinjiang鈥攖he three men desperately needed some assistance.

Upon reading the letter, Lattimore did seek out money for Xinjiang鈥ut not in the way Bughra, Alptekin, and Sabri had hoped. The request prompted Lattimore to for Johns Hopkins or another university in the United States. He sent off letters to the , the , and the , all asking for funds to recruit a Xinjiang specialist.

Why did Lattimore want Xinjiang experts in or near the nation鈥檚 capital? He did not exactly say why, but we can speculate his motives.

At the time of Pivot鈥檚 publication and Lattimore鈥檚 fundraising effort, the United States Consulate in Urumqi had closed, a , and the People鈥檚 Republic of China and the Soviet Union had inked a series of .

All of this meant that the United States was denied access to Xinjiang, an important listening post in the Global Cold War. Lattimore probably feared that a knowledge gap about this 鈥減ivotal鈥� region in Central Asian and Sino-Soviet affairs would develop among policymakers and policy analysts in Washington. So to prepare for after the Chinese revolution, Lattimore wanted the United States to have academics and educators familiar with the languages and locales of Xinjiang.

The Administrative Secretary of ACLS, that 鈥渁n expansion westward from your Mongol work is certainly in order, and the Turkish of Sinkiang [Xinjiang] would seem to be a next normal step.鈥� Though Graves was not in a position to shell out the cash, he did volunteer to approach several other philanthropic organizations on Lattimore鈥檚 behalf. 鈥淚 shall not be satisfied until we have an active American development in study of the Central Asiatic Turks,鈥� Graves concluded his letter.

The paper trail mostly ends after Lattimore鈥檚 receipt of a . Lattimore did not succeed in bringing a Xinjiang language expert to the United States, in part because he could not marshal the funds do so. Other developments in Lattimore鈥檚 personal and professional life also prevented him from aggressively pursuing this initiative. As Lattimore , 鈥淵ou may have read in the press that my legitimate work has been greatly interfered with by the disreputable McCarthy.鈥�

The historian that Xinjiang lacks the same name recognition as Tibet in the West because Uyghur elites, once in exile, failed to produce a single identifiable leader (their own Dalai Lama). This is probably true, but Lattimore鈥檚 correspondence also shows that the failure of American academics and philanthropists to keep the study of Xinjiang alive in Cold War America may have also played a role.

In the end, the most Lattimore could do was 鈥攁lthough it seems the books may never have arrived.

Special thanks to the Ferdinand Hamburger Archives, Sheridan Libraries, Johns Hopkins University, for granting permission to publish these records on .