Imperialism and Treaty Port Industrialization

Abstract Imperialism refers to a political practice in which a nation, through violent or nonviolent measures, seizes the resources of other countries. The imperialist nation exploited the subjugated countries so that the latter would advance the economic, political, and social interests of its imperial masters. Although the relationship between the imperial masters and their subjects was almost always exploitative, imperialism could not be considered a wholly negative concept. Some scholars even argue that imperialism had a positive effect on China’s industrialization. According to this school of thought, the advance of the West made the Qing court and Chinese reformers realize the importance of industrialization, and the Self-Strengthening Movement, a reform campaign made possible by European assistance, established a foundation for China’s early industrialization. The Self-Strengthening Movement brought advanced technology as well as Western industrial methods to China. China’s industrialization was also a reflection on imperialism: the imperial powers extracted every concession they could due to their involvement in the Qing court’s modernization efforts, a course of action that destroyed China’s previously self-sufficient natural economy and, at the same time, provided an opportunity for the emergence of Chinese treaty port industrialization. The rise of treaty ports was a development that had unexpected and unintended consequences for China’s industrial growth, as from 1860 to 1911, a period during which Qing officials sought to curb the growth of foreign shipping, foreign merchants operating from the treaty ports forced the Qing dynasty to open more and more shipping and export trade privileges. There is a need to examine the impact imperialism and treaty port industrialization had on China, particularly on the development of the Chinese shipping industry during the semi-colonial period. Nantong even achieved an industrial capacity rivaling that of Shanghai, meaning that Western and Japanese imperialism played a pivotal role in the early industrialization of China. Although China specialists and historians of imperialism have generally underplayed the transformative effects Japanese imperialism had on China’s industrialization since the signing of the 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki, the establishment of Japanese treaty ports in northeast China after the First Sino-Japanese War very quicky became important industrial bases. Manchuria became one of China’s most advanced industrialization areas under Japanese imperialism.