IMPERIALISM EVENTS OF CHINAThe events that led to European Imperialism of China.

OPIUM WARS Within the China there was an ongoing debate over legalising the opium trade

itself. However, it was repeatedly rejected, and in 1838 the government sentenced native drug traffickers to death.

Around this time, the British were selling roughly 1,400 tons per year to China.

His first course of action was to enforce the imperial demand for a permanent halt to drug shipments into China. When the British refused to end the trade, China blockaded the British traders in their factories and cut off supplies of food.

On 27 March 1839 Charles Elliot, British Superintendent of Trade agreed that all British subjects should turn over their opium to him, amounting to nearly a year's supply of the drug, to be confiscated by China. In a departure from his brief, he promised that Britain would compensate them for the lost opium.

OPIUM WAR CONTINUED China pushed for more restrictions, even forcing British merchants to sign

an agreement not to deal in Opium or be put to death. (Some refused, but those who did not deal in it to begin with signed the agreement.)

China then sent England’s Queen Victoria a letter stating that they will fight to keep Opium out of China and protect their people.

This letter was met with an arrogant reply by both Britain and the United States who said China does not care about protecting their people more than just treating Britain and all other merchant countries as slaves.

Some British accused China of unlawfully destroying their property when it seized the Opium.

This sparked the Opium Wars with British warships attacking.

TREATY OF NANKING (NANJING) This treaty was created to stop the first Opium War. It was VERY ONE SIDED in favor of Britain. Some of the articles required China to do the following:

Open FIVE ports for trade: Canton (Shameen Island until 1943), Amoy (Xiamen until 1930), Foochow (Fuzhou), Ningpo (Ningbo) and Shanghai (until 1943),

where Britons were to be allowed to trade with anyone they wished.

TREATY OF NANKING CONTINUED Reparations and demobilization

The Qing government (China’s ruling family) was obliged to pay the British government six million silver dollars for the opium that had been confiscated in 1839 (Article IV),

3 million dollars in compensation for debts that the Hong merchants in Canton owed British merchants (Article V)

a further 12 million dollars in compensation for the cost of the war (VI).

The total sum of 21 million dollars was to be paid in installments over three years and the Qing government would be charged an annual interest rate of 5 percent for the money that was not paid in a timely manner (Article VII)

TAIPING REBELLION Basic Rundown:

led by Hong Xiuquan, who announced that he had received visions in which he learned that he was the younger brother of Jesus.

Hong established the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom with its capital at Nanjing. The Kingdom's army controlled large parts of southern China.

The rebel agenda included social reforms such as shared "property in common," equality for women, and the replacement of Confucianism, Buddhism and Chinese folk religion with their form of Christianity.

The Qing government besieged the Taiping armies throughout the rebellion. The Qing government eventually crushed the rebellion with the aid of French and British forces. THE BRITISH STARTED FIGHTING AGAINST THE QING, UNTIL THEY REALIZED THEY WERE LOSING MONEY AND TRADE, SO THEY SWITCHED SIDES.

OPEN DOOR POLICY – YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY CHINA HATES/MISTRUSTS US TODAY? Began by the United States and President William McKinley.

The policy proposed to keep China open to trade with all countries on an equal basis;

no international power would have total control of the country. The policy called upon foreign powers, within their spheres of influence, to refrain from interfering with any treaty port or territory of another.

It also required the foreign powers to pay China taxes. (This made it appear legit as China was “involved in the negotiations and creation” of this policy.

The Open Door policy had little legal standing and created lingering resentment; it has since been seen as a symbol of national humiliation by many Chinese historians.

BOXER REBELLION A violent anti-foreign and anti-Christian movement which took place in China

between 1898 and 1900.

It was initiated by the Militia United in Righteousness (Yihetuan), known in English as the "Boxers", and was motivated by proto-nationalists and opposition to foreign imperialism and Christianity. The Great Powers intervened and defeated Chinese forces.

The Boxers got sick of the foreigners coming and they attacked the Christian missionaries and Chinese who converted to Christianity.

The Boxers succeeded at first, but they did something not done before in history and never done since then. They got the 8 World Powers (Britain, Russia, France, USA, Japan, Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary) to join together and work together to fight a common enemy…the Boxers. Guess who won that fight without much of a problem.

(Hint: The 8 European-Asian-American alliances had US Marines sent in to fight the Boxers…who won?)

IN A NUTSHELL Those are the events that led to the Rise of Chinese Imperialism.