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.
Phoebe Chow is in the International History Department at the London School of Economics, UK.
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 ChinaChristianity, Compassion and Modernity: Missionary ViewsThe Moral Burden: Victorian Travel WritingsBritish Policy, 1895-19002. 1900-1910The Boxer Uprising, 1900The Boxer Uprising and Chinese ‘Awakening’Sir Robert Hart and Chinese ‘Awakening’Official policy, 1901-1904Chinese Nationalism, 1905G.E. Morrison’s Opinions and InfluenceOfficial Policy, 1905-19103. 1911-1918Assessments of the 1911 RevolutionBritish policy towards China, 1911-19184. 1919 to early 1925The First World War and EmpireThe Paris Peace ConferenceThe Creation of a New Order in East AsiaChinese Issues, 1922-1924The Bolshevik Threat and the Yellow PerilThe Boxer Indemnity and Chinese Educational Exchange5. 1925Unrest in China: 30 May and its AftermathThe View from WhitehallGovernment Advisors and LobbyistsPublic ResponsesThe Government ResponseConclusion6. 1926The Hong Kong Boycott and the Business LobbyThe Tariff Conference in BeijingFinding ConsensusChanging Perceptions of the GMDChallenging ConciliationThe Move Towards a Pro-GMD PolicyThe New China Policy: Creating the December Memorandum7. 1927The Hankou Incident, the Shanghai Defence Force and the Public ResponseThe Chen-O’Malley AgreementThe Nanjing ‘Outrages’Conclusion