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Why is the Treaty of Shimonoseki regarded as the most humiliating act and shameful loss of sovereignty forced upon China in the late 19th century? |
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See answer below. |
After defeating China, Japan lost no time in strengthening its control over Korea, yet was met with continued resistance from the Korean people. In 1909, Itō Hirobumi, one of the founding fathers of the Meiji Era and the first Japanese Resident-General of Korea in charge of Korean affairs, was assassinated by Korean nationalist An Jung-geun. In 1910, Japan officially annexed Korea. On January 22, 1919, Korean ruler Gojong died suddenly and was widely believed to have been poisoned by Japanese officials, prompting public outrage. On March 1, multitudes gathered to mourn Gojong and demand independence. The outcry soon spread to the rest of Korea, and grew into anti-Japanese demonstrations and armed uprisings involving over 2,000,000 people. These were ultimately suppressed by the Japanese. This was later known as the March 1st Movement. Today, March 1 is an annual day of commemoration in honor of this nationalist movement.
Concerned that Japan’s acquisition of Liaodong Peninsula would affect Russian interests in northeastern China, Russia persuaded France and Germany to intervene. Together, they pressured Japan into returning the territory to China in exchange for an additional indemnity of 30,000,000 silver dollars from China. Later known as the Triple Intervention, this exacerbated the clash of Japanese and Russian interests in northeastern China and Korea, and laid the groundwork for the Russo-Japanese War from 1904 to 1905.
Initially, Japan insisted on the payment of 300,000,000 silver dollars in reparations. During Li Hongzhang’s stay in Japan to negotiate the treaty, he was shot in the face in an assassination attempt. Fortunately, the 73-year-old envoy survived the ordeal. Catching sight of his bloodied garments, he knew his misfortune would enable him to leverage concessions from Japan. “This blood has been shed to China’s benefit,” he said with feeling.
Indeed, embarrassed by the incident and seeing international opinion turn against them, Japan agreed to a minor concession by reducing the amount of reparations to 200,000,000 silver dollars. In total, China paid Japan 230,000,000 silver dollars for war reparations and the redemption of Liaodong Peninsula.
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Why is the Treaty of Shimonoseki regarded as the most humiliating act and shameful loss of sovereignty forced upon China in the late 19th century? |
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The Treaty of Shimonoseki was excessively harsh. China had to cede a large island chain (Taiwan and Penghu Islands) and pay large sums in war reparation, in addition to allowing special Japanese access at various ports and an influx of foreign capital. Gradually, China not only became an exporter of raw material and an importer of foreign goods as well as capital, but also a domestic market of products made by foreign businesses with locally-sourced materials and labor. In essence, sanctioning foreign control in manufacturing, mining and logistics, impeded China’s own development of industrial capacity. |
