1. Burhan Shahidi was a Chinese Tatar politician who occupied several high-level positions in Xinjiang, in the governments of the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China.
20 Facts About Burhan Shahidi
1. 2.
Burhan Shahidi held the position of Vice-Chairman of the Second, Third, Fifth, and Sixth National Committees of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, served as Chairman of the Xinjiang Provincial People's Government, and was the founder and inaugural President of the Islamic Association of China.
3.
Burhan Shahidi was born in 1894 in the Russian Kazan Governorate to a Tatar family.
4.
Burhan Shahidi's family was poor and he received little schooling in his early years.
5.
Burhan Shahidi spoke Tatar, Uyghur, Mandarin Chinese, Russian, Turkish and some Arabic and acted as the interpreter for Yang Zengxin, the leader of Xinjiang at the time.
6.
Burhan Shahidi returned to Xinjiang in 1933 and held a number of roles in the provincial government including manager of a land development company.
7.
Burhan Shahidi played a key role in the Xinjiang Nationalities Congress of 1934.
8.
Burhan Shahidi was released by Wu Zhongxin, the Chinese Nationalist official who replaced Sheng Shicai.
9.
In 1946, Burhan Shahidi became the vice-chairman of a provincial coalition government formed between the Chinese Nationalists and the revolutionaries who had founded the Second East Turkestan Republic in the "Three Districts".
10.
Burhan Shahidi was considered a political moderate between the Nationalist Chinese and Second ETR members of the coalition.
11.
In 1947, Burhan Shahidi was transferred to Nanjing and became an official in the central government under Chiang Kai-shek.
12.
Burhan Shahidi favored Chinese nationalism and disagreed with Turkic nationalist positions of Muhammad Amin Bughra.
13.
Burhan Shahidi helped stabilize the province's finances, which was ravaged by the spread of inflation throughout Nationalist China, by restoring the local currency.
14.
On 17 December 1949, the Xinjiang Provincial People's Government was established, and Burhan Shahidi became the chairman.
15.
Burhan Shahidi was introduced to the Chinese Communist Party by Wang Zhen and Xu Liqing at the end of the year.
16.
Burhan Shahidi was a co-founder and the first chairman of the Islamic Association of China.
17.
Burhan Shahidi assumed the presidency of Xinjiang University in October 1960.
18.
Burhan Shahidi supervised Chinese Muslim participation in the hajj until the Cultural Revolution, when he was accused of being a collaborator and a foreigner, and imprisoned for eight years.
19.
In 1985, to support the return of the critically endangered Pere David's deer to China, Burhan Shahidi helped found and chair the China Milu Foundation, now known as the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation.
20.
Burhan Shahidi died on 27 August 1989 in Beijing and is buried in the foothills of the Tian Shan in Xinjiang.