Xinjiang is a region of the People's Republic of China, bordering Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. It mostly consists of a Turkic minority called the Uyghurs, who are majority Muslim.
During the early 20th Century, while China was at war with itself, Xinjiang was controlled by warlords, most prominently, Sheng Shicai, with the support of the Soviet Union. In 1949, it was annexed into the nascent People's Republic of China and officially, carries the designation 'autonomous region' though the central government maintains a stranglehold over Xinjiang, as with the Tibetan Autonomous Region.
But what if China never got it's act together and remained a collection of feuding warlord cliques, leaving East Turkestan (as independence activists have called the region) and Tibet to remain independent of any central Chinese government? What would the two regions look like as independent countries?
During the early 20th Century, while China was at war with itself, Xinjiang was controlled by warlords, most prominently, Sheng Shicai, with the support of the Soviet Union. In 1949, it was annexed into the nascent People's Republic of China and officially, carries the designation 'autonomous region' though the central government maintains a stranglehold over Xinjiang, as with the Tibetan Autonomous Region.
But what if China never got it's act together and remained a collection of feuding warlord cliques, leaving East Turkestan (as independence activists have called the region) and Tibet to remain independent of any central Chinese government? What would the two regions look like as independent countries?