[3] In April 1931,[4] before the Kumul Rebellion fully escalated, Liu, along with Yen Yu-Shan, the commissioner for reconstruction, advised Jin the policy of conciliation.
[3] In December 1932, Ma Zhongying's forces started the sieg of Ürümqi, but the White Russians and Sheng Shicai's troops successfully defended the city.
The culmination was the coup staged by the White Russians[5] and a group of provincial bureaucrats led by Chen Zhong, Tao Mingyue and Li Xiaotian on 12 April 1933, who overthrew Jin, who escaped to China proper via Siberia.
[6] Without conferring the Central government, the coup leaders appointed Sheng the Commissioner of the Sinkiang Border Defence,[6] i. e., Military Governor or duban on 14 April 1933,[7] resurrecting the old title.
[6] Without clearly stating whether it recognises the changes in Sinkiang, the government appointed Huang Musong, then a Deputy Chief of General Staff, a "pacification commissioner" in May 1933.
[11] Sheng exploited the rumours, and charged that Huang, an agent of Wang Jingwei had plotted with Liu, Zhang and Ma to overthrow the provincial government.
[1] Shortly afterward, in August Chiang sent Foreign Minister Luo Wengan, as a sign of goodwill, to preside over Sheng's inauguration ceremony as a Commissioner of the Sinkiang Border Defence.