Shaoming Zhai - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Shaoming Zhai

Research paper thumbnail of Road to Infamy: Interwar Pacific Under the Washington Naval Treaty

American research journal of history and culture, Aug 10, 2019

Towards the end of the 19th century, internal weakness of China and heightened worldwide imperial... more Towards the end of the 19th century, internal weakness of China and heightened worldwide imperialism led western powers in China to carve out respective spheres of influence in which they exerted de facto political power and gained exclusive privileges to commerce and resources, such as the rights to banking, mining, and railroad construction. German initiated the "scramble for China" when it coerced Chinese government to accept a list of demands, including major concessions in Shantung province.[1] Britain followed by establishing its own influences along the Yangtze River; Russia then gained control of Manchuria; Japan annexed Korea and Fukien; France acquired authority in Kwangtung, Guangxi, and Yunnan provinces. The race to expand these peripheral zones created tension and distrust among the imperialist powers throughout the first half of 20th century. After Chinese defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Treaty of Shimonoseki ceded Liaotung Peninsula to Japan. However, fearing the possession of Liaotung Peninsula would give Japan excessive influence over Peking, Russia, Germany, and France protested and pressured Japan to give up the territory in what was known as the Triple Intervention. This event was one early example of the many following conflicts of interests among imperialist powers that complicated the regional situation, and it led to two profound developments: 1) The formation of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance of 1902 as part of Japan's measure to counter the combined influence of other western powers; and 2) A national humiliation for Japan that prompted the Russo-Japanese War of 1904. Open Door Policy: Equal Economic Opportunity and Territorial Integrity American businessmen actively traded and invested in China. Should China be partitioned by European powers with significantly greater imperialist holdings, American access to Chinese market might have eventually been lost. Thus, it was in the US interest to maintain political and territorial integrity in China and to avoid the expansion of exclusive economic privileges.

Research paper thumbnail of Road to Infamy: Interwar Pacific Under the Washington Naval Treaty

American Research Journal of History and Culture, 2019

Towards the end of the 19th century, internal weakness of China and heightened worldwide imperial... more Towards the end of the 19th century, internal weakness of China and heightened worldwide imperialism led western powers in China to carve out respective spheres of influence in which they exerted de facto political power and gained exclusive privileges to commerce and resources, such as the rights to banking, mining, and railroad construction. German initiated the "scramble for China" when it coerced Chinese government to accept a list of demands, including major concessions in Shantung province.[1] Britain followed by establishing its own influences along the Yangtze River; Russia then gained control of Manchuria; Japan annexed Korea and Fukien; France acquired authority in Kwangtung, Guangxi, and Yunnan provinces. The race to expand these peripheral zones created tension and distrust among the imperialist powers throughout the first half of 20th century. After Chinese defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Treaty of Shimonoseki ceded Liaotung Peninsula to Japan. However, fearing the possession of Liaotung Peninsula would give Japan excessive influence over Peking, Russia, Germany, and France protested and pressured Japan to give up the territory in what was known as the Triple Intervention. This event was one early example of the many following conflicts of interests among imperialist powers that complicated the regional situation, and it led to two profound developments: 1) The formation of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance of 1902 as part of Japan's measure to counter the combined influence of other western powers; and 2) A national humiliation for Japan that prompted the Russo-Japanese War of 1904. Open Door Policy: Equal Economic Opportunity and Territorial Integrity American businessmen actively traded and invested in China. Should China be partitioned by European powers with significantly greater imperialist holdings, American access to Chinese market might have eventually been lost. Thus, it was in the US interest to maintain political and territorial integrity in China and to avoid the expansion of exclusive economic privileges.

Research paper thumbnail of Road to Infamy: Interwar Pacific Under the Washington Naval Treaty

American research journal of history and culture, Aug 10, 2019

Towards the end of the 19th century, internal weakness of China and heightened worldwide imperial... more Towards the end of the 19th century, internal weakness of China and heightened worldwide imperialism led western powers in China to carve out respective spheres of influence in which they exerted de facto political power and gained exclusive privileges to commerce and resources, such as the rights to banking, mining, and railroad construction. German initiated the "scramble for China" when it coerced Chinese government to accept a list of demands, including major concessions in Shantung province.[1] Britain followed by establishing its own influences along the Yangtze River; Russia then gained control of Manchuria; Japan annexed Korea and Fukien; France acquired authority in Kwangtung, Guangxi, and Yunnan provinces. The race to expand these peripheral zones created tension and distrust among the imperialist powers throughout the first half of 20th century. After Chinese defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Treaty of Shimonoseki ceded Liaotung Peninsula to Japan. However, fearing the possession of Liaotung Peninsula would give Japan excessive influence over Peking, Russia, Germany, and France protested and pressured Japan to give up the territory in what was known as the Triple Intervention. This event was one early example of the many following conflicts of interests among imperialist powers that complicated the regional situation, and it led to two profound developments: 1) The formation of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance of 1902 as part of Japan's measure to counter the combined influence of other western powers; and 2) A national humiliation for Japan that prompted the Russo-Japanese War of 1904. Open Door Policy: Equal Economic Opportunity and Territorial Integrity American businessmen actively traded and invested in China. Should China be partitioned by European powers with significantly greater imperialist holdings, American access to Chinese market might have eventually been lost. Thus, it was in the US interest to maintain political and territorial integrity in China and to avoid the expansion of exclusive economic privileges.

Research paper thumbnail of Road to Infamy: Interwar Pacific Under the Washington Naval Treaty

American Research Journal of History and Culture, 2019

Towards the end of the 19th century, internal weakness of China and heightened worldwide imperial... more Towards the end of the 19th century, internal weakness of China and heightened worldwide imperialism led western powers in China to carve out respective spheres of influence in which they exerted de facto political power and gained exclusive privileges to commerce and resources, such as the rights to banking, mining, and railroad construction. German initiated the "scramble for China" when it coerced Chinese government to accept a list of demands, including major concessions in Shantung province.[1] Britain followed by establishing its own influences along the Yangtze River; Russia then gained control of Manchuria; Japan annexed Korea and Fukien; France acquired authority in Kwangtung, Guangxi, and Yunnan provinces. The race to expand these peripheral zones created tension and distrust among the imperialist powers throughout the first half of 20th century. After Chinese defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Treaty of Shimonoseki ceded Liaotung Peninsula to Japan. However, fearing the possession of Liaotung Peninsula would give Japan excessive influence over Peking, Russia, Germany, and France protested and pressured Japan to give up the territory in what was known as the Triple Intervention. This event was one early example of the many following conflicts of interests among imperialist powers that complicated the regional situation, and it led to two profound developments: 1) The formation of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance of 1902 as part of Japan's measure to counter the combined influence of other western powers; and 2) A national humiliation for Japan that prompted the Russo-Japanese War of 1904. Open Door Policy: Equal Economic Opportunity and Territorial Integrity American businessmen actively traded and invested in China. Should China be partitioned by European powers with significantly greater imperialist holdings, American access to Chinese market might have eventually been lost. Thus, it was in the US interest to maintain political and territorial integrity in China and to avoid the expansion of exclusive economic privileges.