Letter from Sheng Shicai to Cde. V. M. Molotov

Translation from Chinese

Esteemed Mr. MOLOTOV.

First, I express fervent gratitude to you, the leader of the government of our most friendly neighboring country, the USSR, in the name of the entire four million people of Xinjiang.

During these recent years our Xinjiang has received both moral and material friendly aid from your country, for which we are extraordinarily grateful. Such a grant of a loan of five million gold rubles at low interest without any conditions is the first case in the history of the foreign loans of China. The devoted and sharp work of the military instructors, advisers, engineers, doctors, and other workers you have assigned to us has not occurred in the previous history of foreign specialists invited by China. We believe that all this aid from you to us is based on your policy of peace, that such aid is being given to us for the sake of our peace, so that we can pursue peaceful construction, so the peoples of all nationalities can pursue a peaceful life, and so we can establish everlasting friendly and peaceful relations with you.

Such a peaceful policy as yours and the friendly aid inspires us to pursue our peaceful domestic construction even more energetically. At the present time Xinjiang has already become the calmest province of our China, in which there is no hunger, no war, and no imperialist influence (although the insidious plans and attempts by the imperialists and fascists regarding an attack on Xinjiang remain as before and are even increasing, in parallel with our political, military, economic, and cultural development), in which one could say that people of all nationalities have rallied together with the government in a single front and raised high the banner of the six basic principles of policy - fighting against imperialism, friendship with the USSR, the equal rights of the nationalities, honesty and selflessness, peace and development - and are energetically waging a struggle for the development of all Xinjiang, the overthrow of imperialism, and the liberation of China.

At the present time we are just straining all our energies to made Xinjiang a model for all of China politically, militarily, economically, and culturally. We know that this work is great work, that our responsibilities are very serious, but we believe that, provided with your friendly aid and our own energetic efforts, our goal will be undoubtedly achieved. We are happy that a neighboring country which has established very close ties with our Xinjiang is not an imperialist country pursuing aggression against weak and small peoples, but the Soviet Union, which helps weak and small peoples.

I would very much like to come to travel around our [SIC] friendly country, the great USSR, in order to have the opportunity to personally receive the teachings of all the leaders of a friendly country and see for myself the great development of the motherland of the world proletariat, for your working methods, your experience in development, your spirit of struggle and the path which you are traveling are those which we should learn, which we should imitate. However, to my deepest regret, by virtue of the situation which has been created this year I cannot fulfill this wish of mine. Therefore right now it only remains for me to wish your country successes in socialist development and a steady increase of influence since your successes of socialist development and the strengthening of the influence of your country are indeed the most reliable guarantee of peace.

At the present time, taking advantage of the trip to the USSR of Mr. Apresov, the Consul General in Urumqi, I am sending you the most modest gifts and hope that you will not refuse to accept them, which will be a joy for me.

With totally friendly greetings,

SHENG SHICAI

4 October 1936