Imperialism in Asia: or China and Japan meet the West China: ancient civilization: 3,500BC “Middle Kingdom” foreigners were “barbarians.” 1644 Ming dynasty replaced by Manchu or Ch’ing dynasty 17th century British East India Company desires trade with China 1800-1839 England then Portugal, France and other European powers import opium into China; by 1840 40,000 chests of opium imported 1839-1842 Opium War China vs. England etc. 1842 Treaty of Nanking- first of “unequal treaties” China forced to open 4 port to western trade Summary: China’s basic reaction to the West? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Japan: Transformation by Borrowing 1600-1868 Tokugawa Shogunate: feudal warrior society 1868 Meiji Restoration- of the Emperor –result of exposure of the West 1854 US Commodore Perry arrives in Japan Japan opts to copy the West: army, navy education system, industrialization Process of modernization controlled by the state By 1900 Japan is 5th largest industrial nation in the world West’s consistent attitude toward Japan: underestimate Japan “amazes” West 1. 1894 Sino (China) Japanese War Japan attacks China to get Korea 2. 1904-5 Russo-Japanese War: Japan launches surprise attack on Port Arthur President Theodore Roosevelt asked to mediate Russo-Japanese War Treaty of Portsmouth (NH) earns Roosevelt the Noble Peace Prize Roosevelt and the “Gentleman’s Agreement” with Japan US and Europe React to Modern Asian Realities China: Japan’s quick victory in 1894 Sino-Japanese war exposes China’s weakness European nations now carve out “spheres of influence” in China Sphere of Influence: an area in China in which a foreign nations claimed exclusive rights for trade and economic development 4 US Secretary of State John Hay Open Door Notes 1. First Open Door Note: all nations should be able to trade freely in China Meanwhile Boxer Rebellion by Chinese nationals against foreign influence in China: attack foreign legations in Beijing 2. Second Open Door Note: protect territorial and administrative integrity of China BUT the United States never backs up this announcement with force Comparison of first and second Open Door Notes John King Fairbanks: traditional US attitude toward China: benevolence Open Door: basis of US policy toward Asia in 20th century BUT by 1930’s the United States misinterprets the original meaning of the Open Door Notes US now thinks it has pledged to protect China itself This misreading of the Open Door Policy becomes especially significant when Japan invades China in 1937 The Open Door Policy got the United States needlessly involved in the Far East. In an effort to keep the door open in China, the US was drawn more deeply into the politics of Asia. George Kennan commenting on the Open Door Policy: Cites the US tendency “to achieve foreign policy objectives by inducing other governments to sign up to professions of high moral and legal principles and laying stress on verbal understanding rather than on concrete manifestations of power and political interest Later the US contradicts its own open Door Policy when it seized Samsah Bay on coast of China 5 .