Responses of China and Japan to Western Responses
The period until the nineteenth century was characterized by several attempts by the Western worlds to conquer the Eastern nations such as Japan and China. The nineteenth century was also characterized by several treaties that defined the political landscape and interrelations between the Western Countries and the Eastern countries. Each country responded differently depending on the context and the factors defined within it. The western forces in Japan and China in the nineteenth century were mainly the United States and Britain respectively as illustrated in the Convention of Kanagawa and the treaty of Nanking respectively.
The main motive why the British invaded China in the 1800s was economic. The period was characterized by increasing demand for Chinese products such as tea, porcelain, and silk in the British market. British thus established a strong bilateral relationship with China to facilitate trade between the two countries. Britain, however, did not have enough silver to sustain barter trade with the Qing Empire and as a result, developed a system of barter trade involving the Indian opium. It was, therefore, the subsequent dramatic increase in Opium in China from the later years of the eighteenth century to the early years of the nineteenth century that was associated with social instability and a generation of drug addicts. The effects of the opium further sparked a war between the Qing Empire and the British traders escalating into the famous first Opium wars (Roberts, 2012). The British were then given Hong Kong with trading rights in Shangai and Canton.
1842 marked the signing of the Treaty of Nanking which was a peace treaty that ended the first opium war that had lasted for three consecutive years. The Treaty of Nanking marked the first of what was later described by the Chinese as the unequal treaties. As outlined in the treaty, China paid an indemnity to the British ceded Hong Kong, and also agreed to facilitate the establishment of a reasonable and just tariff. The British traders who had earlier been limited to trading only in Guangzhou were liberated into trading at five ports with whomever they wanted. This treaty was later upheld by the British Supplementary Treaty of Bogue signed in 1843 (Roberts, 2012). This treaty served to allow the British citizens to be tried within the British judicial systems granting Britain rights in China that China had gran to other nations.
At the center of the rationale behind the Treaty of Nanking was changing the structure of foreign trade that had been developed by the canton system that had been in effect since 1760. The Canton system was a system that served to not only protect China but also help it in controlling foreign trade, particularly with the Western countries through channeling all trade activities to the Southern port of Canton (Roberts 2012). It was for this reason that the British were emancipated by the treaty into trading in up to five ports with whichever party they pleased. It can be concluded that while the Qing empire attempted to protect its society against the negative implications of the increase in opium usage, the first opium war worked in favor of the British as they were later able to not only trade in more ports than before but were also able to have control over the tariffs that were to be later agreed upon between the Qing empire and the British government.
Following the Unequal Treaties that had been imposed on China due to Britain’s superior military power, Japan was more conscious in its response towards the British government. A reform era had earlier been spearheaded by the reform-minded samurai resulting in economic and political changes that laid the foundation of the transformation of Japan into what could be described as a modernized power strengthened with an established administration, education, and transport system (Niven, 2015). Japan’s first treaty with a Western country was the treaty of Kanagawa which was signed in 1854. The Treaty of Kanagawa was facilitated by the United States representatives and marked the end of the period of seclusion. The isolation policy, commonly referred to as Sakoku, had been implemented for over two centuries and had served to limit the trade relations between Japan and other powers.
The United States had moved close to the Japan shores having been driven by the idea of Manifest Destiny and their intentions to incorporate into ‘backward” Asian nations the advantages of civilization that had been realized in the west. This treaty was signed following pressure from the United States’ Commodore Mathew Perry who had arrived on Tokyo Bay with several warships demanding that Japan opened up its ports to United States ships for trade (Niven 2015). The US commodore had then left to give Japan enough time to reconsider their decision. The Japanese having witnessed the aftermath of Opium War against a strong-armed British army that had left China at the Western force’s army, eventually agreed to open up the ports to American ships having evaluated the strength of the American warships. The treaty was thus signed in March 1854, in present-day Yokohama, and was written in Japanese, English, and Chinese. The United States was thus the content in the short term since the commodore had achieved his main objective of breaking the isolation policy and also establishing terms for the protection of the US traders. The Japanese, on the other hand, saw these as a sign of weakness.
In summary, China and Japan in the 19th century had come under pressure from the Western forces to open up to trade and international relations. The radical industrial revolution that had characterized the west had left the two Asian powers significantly behind the western powers in terms of technology and military. China and Japan were subsequently unable to stand up to Britain and the United States respectively and were forced to sign treaties that worked in favor of the two western powers by not only opening up to them but also vesting in them the power to dictate the terms of trade. Each of these countries, however, responded differently mainly due to historical timing. The western forces had not forced Japan into opening its shores until 1850 which was more than ten years after the beginning of the Opium war (Niven, 2015). Japan thus gave in the demands of the western powers for an increased opening of bilateral relations and as a result, became modernized while China was reluctant to open up and dragged back technologically while still holding on to its antiquated institutions. It can also be argued that Japan’s peaceful response was mainly caused by the fact that the demands by the west came later to them after the Chinese hence Japan had more knowledge of the implications of the treaty.
References
Niven, J. (2015). Peace and Amity, Treaty of/Kanagawa, Treaty of (1854). Imperialism and Expansionism in American History: A Social, Political, and Cultural Encyclopedia and Document Collection [4 volumes]: A Social, Political, and Cultural Encyclopedia and Document Collection, 299.
Roberts, P. M. (2012). Nanjing, Treaty of (August 1842). China at War: An Encyclopedia: An Encyclopedia, 298.