1st Edition

Britain's Imperial Retreat from China, 1900-1931

By Phoebe Chow Copyright 2017
    262 Pages
    by Routledge

    262 Pages
    by Routledge

    Britain’s relationship with China in the nineteenth and early twentieth century is often viewed in terms of gunboat diplomacy, unequal treaties, and the unrelenting pursuit of Britain’s own commercial interests. This book, however, based on extensive original research, demonstrates that in Britain after the First World War a combination of liberal, Labour party, pacifist, missionary and some business opinion began to argue for imperial retreat from China, and that this movement gathered sufficient momentum for a sympathetic attitude to Chinese demands becoming official Foreign Office policy in 1926. The book considers the various strands of this movement, relates developments in Britain to the changing situation in China, especially the rise of nationalism and the Guomindang, and argues that, contrary to what many people think, the reassertion of China’s national rights was begun successfully in this period rather than after the Communist takeover in 1949.

    Introduction

    1. Past British Thought about China to 1900



    ‘So Well Conceited of Themselves’: Early Jesuit and British Accounts



    ‘Fifty years of Europe’ vs. ‘A Cycle of Cathay’: Imperialism and China



    Christianity, Compassion and Modernity: Missionary Views



    The Moral Burden: Victorian Travel Writings



    British Policy, 1895-1900



    2. 1900-1910



    The Boxer Uprising, 1900



    The Boxer Uprising and Chinese ‘Awakening’



    Sir Robert Hart and Chinese ‘Awakening’



    Official policy, 1901-1904



    Chinese Nationalism, 1905



    G.E. Morrison’s Opinions and Influence



    Official Policy, 1905-1910



    3. 1911-1918



    Assessments of the 1911 Revolution



    British policy towards China, 1911-1918



    4. 1919 to early 1925



    The First World War and Empire



    The Paris Peace Conference



    The Creation of a New Order in East Asia



    Chinese Issues, 1922-1924



    The Bolshevik Threat and the Yellow Peril



    The Boxer Indemnity and Chinese Educational Exchange



    5. 1925



    Unrest in China: 30 May and its Aftermath



    The View from Whitehall



    Government Advisors and Lobbyists



    Public Responses



    The Government Response



    Conclusion



    6. 1926



    The Hong Kong Boycott and the Business Lobby



    The Tariff Conference in Beijing



    Finding Consensus



    Changing Perceptions of the GMD



    Challenging Conciliation



    The Move Towards a Pro-GMD Policy



    The New China Policy: Creating the December Memorandum



    7. 1927



    The Hankou Incident, the Shanghai Defence Force and the Public Response



    The Chen-O’Malley Agreement



    The Nanjing ‘Outrages’



    Conclusion

    Biography

    Phoebe Chow is in the International History Department at the London School of Economics, UK.