Ma Chengxiang

Ma Chengxiang (1914–1991) was a Chinese Muslim general in the National Revolutionary Army. He was the son of general Ma Buqing, and nephew of general Ma Bufang. He commanded Hui cavalry in Xinjiang, the 5th cavalry army. Ma was a member of the Chinese Nationalist Kuomintang party and a hardliner. Ma Chengxiang was the commander of the former Fifth Cavalry Army in Western Gansu, then reorganized as the First Cavalry Division in Xinjiang.

He commanded Chinese Muslim troops against the Uighur armies of the Second East Turkestan Republic and against the People's Liberation Army in Xinjiang, Ningxia, and Gansu. His cavalry was deployed during the Ningxia Campaign. Ma Chengxiang, the nationalist cavalry commander in Xinjiang, led 200-300 civilians and military men such as officers and soldiers and their families fleeing China to settle in Saudi Arabia, with his uncle, Ma Bufang. His family fled Qinghai to go to Hong Kong as a stopover, then fled to Egypt.

According to Jack Chen Ma Chengxiang used his Chinese Muslim cavalry to put down a revolt of Uyghurs during an uprising in 1948 in Turfan.

Elite Qinghai Chinese Muslim cavalry were sent by the Chinese Kuomintang to destroy the Mongols and the Russians in 1947 during the Pei-ta-shan Incident.

Ma was appointed as the commander of all the cavalry forces of the Kuomintang in Xinjiang. When the Communists invaded Xinjiang, Ma fled via the Pamirs in 1950 through India, then reached Egypt. Later, Ma Chengxiang returned to Taiwan, Republic of China in 1950, where his father Ma Buqing had fled. Ma Bufang stayed in Egypt. He resumed his job as a General and was elected to the Seventh Central Committee of the Kuomintang. He also became the Deputy General Officer Commanding Penghu Defense Command in 1956 and was appointed to the Planning Commission for the Recovery of the Mainland.

Career

 * 1943 General Officer Commanding 5th Cavalry Army
 * 1947 General Officer Commanding 1st Cavalry Division
 * 1949 General Officer Commanding Cavalry Forces in Xinjiang