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'Unequal Treaties' is a term used in reference to the type of treaties signed by several East Asian states, including Qing Dynasty China, late Tokugawa Japan, and late Joseon Korea, with Western powers and Imperial Japan, during the 19th and early 20th centuries. This was a period during which these Asian states were largely unable to resist the military and economic pressures from foreign powers.

Contents

Summary

List of major Unequal Treaties imposed on China

List of major Unequal Treaties imposed on Japan

List of major Unequal Treaties imposed on Korea

Other uses of term "Unequal Treaty"

See also

References

External links

Summary

The earliest attempt to come to a settlement was the 1841 Convention of Chuenpeh in the wake of the First Opium War that started in 1839.^[1] China and Great Britain signed the first unequal treaties under the Treaty of Nanking in 1842.^[2] Following Qing China's defeat, treaties with Britain opened up several ports to foreign trade, while also allowing Christians to reside. In addition, the administration of justice on foreign residents in the port cities were afforded trials by their own consular authorities rather than the Chinese legal system, a concept termed extraterritoriality.
Although the term "Unequal treaty" did not come into use until early in the 20th century, many Chinese considered the treaties unequal since the foreign powers did not reciprocate most of China's concessions with similar privileges. In many cases China was effectively forced to pay large amounts of reparations, open up ports for trade, cede or lease territories (such as Hong Kong to Great Britain), and make various other concessions of sovereignty to foreign "spheres of influence", following humiliating military defeats.
When the United States Commodore Matthew Perry forced open Japan in 1854, Japan was soon prompted to sign treaties that were similar treaties to the ones China had signed and the same thing soon happened to Korea. Ironically, Korea's first unequal treaties were not with the West but with Japan, which, taking a page from Western tactics, had forced Korea to open its doors to foreign commerce in 1876.^[3]
Such unequal treaties ended at various times for the countries involved. Japan was the first to throw off the shackles of its treaties during the mid 1890s, when its performance in the First Sino-Japanese War convinced many in the West that Japan had indeed entered among the body of "civilized nations". For China and Korea, the wait was somewhat longer. Most of China's unequal treaties were abrogated during World War II, when the Republic of China led by Chiang Kai-shek emerged victorious and became a permanent member of the Security Council of the United Nations.
China's unequal treaties almost completely dissolved only following Hong Kong's 1997 handover. The agreement was made in 1984 following talks between Deng Xiaoping and the British under the Sino-British Joint Declaration. Exception of territory seized were made by Imperial Russia (Outer Manchuria) in 1860. Korea's unequal treaties with European states became largely null and void in 1910, when it became a Japanese colony.

List of major Unequal Treaties imposed on China

★ Treaty of Nanking (南京條約) (1842)
:''with United Kingdom''

★ Treaty of the Bogue (1843)
:''with United Kingdom''

★ Treaty of Wanghia (中美望廈條約) (1844)
:''with United States''

★ Treaty of Whampoa (黃埔條約) (1844)
:''with France''

★ Treaty of Aigun (璦琿條約) (1858)
:''with Russia''

★ Treaty of Tientsin (天津條約) (1858)
:''with France, United Kingdom, Russia, United States''

★ Convention of Peking (北京條約) (1860)
:''with United Kingdom, France, and Russia''

★ Chefoo Convention (煙台條約) (1876)
:''with United Kingdom''

★ Sino-Portuguese Treaty of Peking (中葡北京條約) (1887)
:''with Portugal''

★ Treaty of Shimonoseki (馬關條約) (1895)
:''with Japan''

★ Li-Lobanov Treaty (1896)
:''with Russia''

★ Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory (展拓香港界址專條) (1898)
:''with United Kingdom''

★ Boxer Protocol (辛丑條約) (1901)
:''with United Kingdom, United States, Japan, Russia, France, Germany, Italy, Austro-Hungary, Belgium, Spain, Netherlands''

★ Twenty-One Demands (二十一條) (1915)
:''with Japan''

List of major Unequal Treaties imposed on Japan

★ Convention of Kanagawa (日米和親条約,) (1854)
:''with United States''

★ Anglo-Japanese Friendship Treaty (日英和親条約) (1854)
:''with United Kingdom''

★ Harris Treaty (日米修好通商条約) (1858)
:''with United States''

★ Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce (日英修好通商条約) (1858)
:''with United Kingdom''

List of major Unequal Treaties imposed on Korea

★ Treaty of Kanghwa (강화도 조약)(1876)
:''with Japan''

★ Chemulpo Treaty (조미수호통상조약)(1882)
:''with United States''

★ Taft-Katsura Agreement (가쓰라-태프트 밀약) (1905)
:''with United States''

★ Eulsa Treaty (을사조약)(1905)
:''with Japan''

★ Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty (한일 병합 조약)(1910)
:''with Japan''

Other uses of term "Unequal Treaty"

The 2003 UK-US extradition treaty was called an "unequal treaty" by the RESPECT party and the Liberal Democrat leader Menzies Campbell.

See also

★ Client state

★ Puppet state

★ Most favoured nation

References

1. Courtauld, Caroline. Holdsworth, May. Vickers, Simon. [1997] (1997). The Hong Kong Story. HK University press. ISBN 0195903536
2. Wiltshire, Trea. [First published 1987] (republished & reduced 2003). Old Hong Kong - Volume One. Central, Hong Kong: Text Form Asia books Ltd. ISBN Volume One 962-7283-59-2
3. Preston, Peter Wallace. [1998] (1998). Blackwell Publishing. Pacific Asia in teh Global System: An Introduction. ISBN 0631202382

External links

★ Treaty Ports and Extraterritoriality in 1920s' China