 Mao Zemin had joined the Communist Party in 1922 and was executed by a warlord in 1943.Sheng Shicai, governor of Xinjiang, had been aligned to the Chinese Communist Party and had at first welcomed Mao Zemin, but switched allegiance after Germany invaded the Soviet Union.Mao Yuanxin's mother was also arrested, and Yuanxin was born in jail.