 Nationalist China formally declared war on Japan and Nazi Germany on December 9, 1941, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.The Turkish-Islamic First East Turkestan Republic had some links to the Axis Powers, because during 1930-37 the Axis wanted to exploit Pan-Islamic sentiments to create a pro-Axis client state in Central Asia as a way of checking Soviet influence in the area.During the occupation, the Japanese encouraged and backed Indonesian nationalistic feeling, created new Indonesian institutions and promoted nationalist leaders such as Sukarno.