what was the us hoping to achieve with the open door policy
Milestones: 1899–1913
Secretary of State John Hay and the Open up Door in China, 1899–1900
Secretary of Country John Hay first articulated the concept of the "Open Door" in Cathay in a series of notes in 1899–1900. These Open Door Notes aimed to secure international agreement to the U.S. policy of promoting equal opportunity for international trade and commerce in China, and respect for China's authoritative and territorial integrity. British and American policies toward People's republic of china had long operated under similar principles, simply once Hay put them into writing, the "Open Door" became the official U.S. policy towards the Far Eastward in the first half of the 20th century.
Secretarial assistant of Country John Hay
The idea backside the Open Door Notes originated with British and American People's republic of china experts, Alfred East. Hippisley and William Due west. Rockhill. Both men believed that their countries' economic interests in Cathay would be all-time protected and promoted past a formal understanding amidst the European powers on the principle of maintaining an Open Door for trade and commercial activity. Nether their influence, Secretary Hay sent the first of the Open Door Notes on September vi, 1899, to the other great powers that had an interest in Red china, including Great britain, France, Russian federation, Germany, and Nippon. These nations maintained significant physical and commercial presences in China, and were protective of their various spheres of influence and trading privileges there, and elsewhere in Asia.
Hay proposed a free, open market and equal trading opportunity for merchants of all nationalities operating in Cathay, based in office on the nigh favored nation clauses already established in the Treaties of Wangxia and Tianjin. Hay argued that establishing equal access to commerce would do good American traders and the U.S. economy, and hoped that the Open up Door would also prevent disputes betwixt the powers operating in Red china. For the United states of america, which held relatively piffling political clout and no territory in China, the principle of not-discrimination in commercial activity was particularly of import. Hay called for each of the powers active in China to do away with economic advantages for their own citizens within their spheres of influence, and also suggested that the Chinese tariffs apply universally and be collected by the Chinese themselves. Although the other powers may not have agreed fully with these ideas, none openly opposed them.
Empress Dowager Cixi (Tz'u Hsi) of China
First, Hay sought the approving of the British and Japanese Governments, both of which considered the American suggestion to be in their interests, although both conditioned their acceptance of the terms on the understanding of all the powers involved. France followed the British and Japanese case. This British, Japanese, and French endorsement of Hay's suggestion pressured Germany and Russia to attach to the terms of the note, although Russia did then with so many caveats that information technology practically negated the Note's cardinal principles. Nevertheless, Hay alleged that all the powers had accepted the ideas with responses that were "last and definitive."
In 1900, however, internal events in China threatened the idea of the Open Door. An anti-foreign movement known as the Boxer Rebellion, named for the martial artists that led the movement, gathered strength, and began attacking strange missionaries and Chinese converts to Christianity. With the backing of Empress Dowager Cixi (Tz'u Hsi) and the Imperial Army, the Boxer Rebellion turned into a violent conflict that claimed the lives of hundreds of strange missionaries and thousands of Chinese nationals. As the Boxers descended upon Beijing, foreign nationals living in that city—including embassy staff—clustered together in the besieged foreign legations, and called upon their home governments for help.
Photograph of Boxer Rebels
With strange armies fighting their mode from the Chinese coast to rescue their citizens in the capital, in some cases securing their own concessions and areas of special interest along the way, the principle of the Open Door seemed to be in grave danger. On July 3, 1900, Hay circulated another bulletin to the foreign powers involved in Mainland china, this time noting the importance of respecting the "territorial and administrative integrity" of China. Although the goal was to prevent the powers from using the Boxer Rebellion as an excuse to cleave China into private colonies, the Open up Door Circular requested no formal agreement or assurances from the other powers.
Together, the Open Door Notes served the important purpose of outlining U.Due south. policy toward Red china and expressing U.S. hopes for cooperation with the other foreign powers with a stake in the region. They were of lasting importance in U.South.-Due east Asian relations, and contributed to the idea of a Sino-American "special relationship." However, considering they were non-binding, the Notes did not prevent the The states—or any other power—from ane day seeking Chinese territory, or interim in any manner that was preferential to their own interests, even at the expense of the Chinese Government. Hay himself even briefly considered a seizure of Chinese territory, although he quickly rejected the idea. Although the Notes were not binding, Hay'due south successors even so adhered to the policy of maintaining the Open Door in Prc. The articulation of the Open Door policy represented the growing American interest and involvement in East asia at the plow of the century.
Ironically, Hay articulated the Open Door policy at a time when the U.Southward. Authorities was doing everything in its power to close the door on Chinese immigration to the United States. This finer stifled opportunities for Chinese merchants and workers in the U.s.a.. (Run into Chinese Clearing and the Chinese Exclusion Acts.)
Source: https://history.state.gov/milestones/1899-1913/hay-and-china
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