On 7 November 1944, Zhang Zhiyuan, Zhao Pulin, and Wang Ducongstudents of
Xinjiang Universityand Zhang Yuzhena student of the Xinjiang Provincial Girls' Middle Schoolformed the clandestine Xinjiang Communist League Society. Inspired by the
Chinese Communist Party (CCP), their goals were to promote
Mao Zedong's concept of a "
New Democratic Revolution", establish contact with like-minded communist revolutionaries in northern Xinjiang (the three districts of
Ili,
Tarbaghatay, and
Altay), and jointly overthrow the then
Kuomintang-led government of the
Republic of China. Many members had personal contacts within the CCP. The organisation established its headquarters in the regional capital of Dihua (present-day
Ürümqi) and elected Han Shiyi as its president. In December 1944, a group of young writers for the
Xinjiang Daily, including Li Taiyu, Zhao Xinya, Yu Jiangzhi, and He Rui, formed another clandestine organisation called the "Communist Group". In March 1945, the Communist Group merged into the Xinjiang Communist League Association, and the organisation was renamed the "Communist League of Xinjiang". Zhao Xinya was elected as party secretary and Li Taiyu as propaganda committee member. It began publishing the gazette
Combat, leading to the organisation's informal moniker "Combat Society". In December 1946,
Abdukerim Abbasovthe leader of the
Uyghur-majority,
Ghulja-based
East Turkestan Revolutionary Party (ETRP)travelled to the then Chinese capital
Nanjing, to secretly meet with
Dong Biwu, a CCP delegate from
Yan'an. Abdukerim explained to Dong that the ETRP had been working closely with the Communist League, and claimed that together they numbered in the tens-of-thousands. Both groups hoped to integrate their membership into the CPSU, but the Soviet leadership had not yet received their request. Abdukerim therefore reached out to the CCP for its support. Dong immediately relayed this information back to the CCP central committee in Yan'an via
telegraph and scheduled a second meeting with Abdukerim. At their second meeting, Dong provided Abdukerim documents from the CCP's 7th National Congress and the opinions of the CCP leadership. Dong extended the warm greetings of
Zhou Enlai, the vice chairman of the military commission of the central committee, who agreed in principle to CCP membership for leaders of the Communist League and the ETRP. Abdukerim returned to Ghulja in early 1947 and immediately made arrangements to meet with the leaders of the Communist League. On 3 February 1947, the leaders of the Communist League and the ETRP met in Dihua. Abdukerim informed the attendees of the CCP central committee's opinions and recommendations, and the two groups agreed to a CCP-recommended merger. The dissolution of both groups and the formation of the
Democratic Revolutionary Party were declared later that day. == Notes ==