The Open Door Policy

27.1.7: The Open Door Policy

The Open Door Policy was a largely ineffective policy proposed by the United States at the turn of the 20th century to keep China equally open to trade with all countries, preventing any one power from gaining total control.

Learning Objective

Define the Open Door Policy

Key Points

  • At the end of the 19th century, China faced the threat of being partitioned and colonized by imperial powers, including Britain, France, Russia, Japan, and Germany. After winning the Spanish-American War of 1898 and acquiring the Philippine Islands, the United States also increased its Asian presence and was expecting to further its commercial and political interest in China. However, the United States felt threatened by other powers’ much larger spheres of influence and worried that it might lose access to the Chinese market should the country be partitioned.
  • As a response, U.S. diplomat William Woodville Rockhill formulated the Open Door Policy to safeguard American business opportunities and other interests in China. In 1899, U.S. Secretary of State John Hay sent notes to France, Germany, Britain, Italy, Japan, and Russia, asking them to declare formally that they would uphold Chinese territorial and administrative integrity and not interfere with the free use of the treaty ports within their spheres of influence in China. The Open Door Policy stated that all nations, including the United States, could enjoy equal access to the Chinese market.
  • In 1902, the United States government protested the Russian encroachment in Manchuria after the Boxer Rebellion as a violation of the Open Door Policy. When Japan replaced Russia in southern Manchuria after the Russo-Japanese War (1904–05), the Japanese and U.S. governments pledged to maintain a policy of equality in Manchuria.
  • In 1917, a diplomatic note was signed between the United States and Japan to regulate disputes over China. Signed by U.S. Secretary of State Robert Lansing and Japanese special envoy Ishii Kikujirō and thus known as the Lansing-Ishii Agreement, the note pledged to uphold the Open Door Policy in China with respect to its territorial and administrative integrity. However, the U.S. government also acknowledged that Japan had “special interests” in China due to its geographic proximity.
  • The Lansing–Ishii Agreement was replaced by the 1922 Nine-Power Treaty. During the Washington Naval Conference of 1921–1922, the U.S. government again raised the Open Door Policy as an international issue and had all attendees sign the Nine-Power Treaty, which intended to make the Open Door Policy international law. The Nine-Power Treaty affirmed the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China as per the Open Door Policy. World War II effectively violated the treaty.
  • The Open Door Policy was a principle that was never formally adopted via treaty or international law. It was invoked or alluded to but never enforced as such. In practice, it was used to mediate competing interests of the colonial powers without much meaningful input from the Chinese, creating lingering resentment and causing it to later be seen as a symbol of national humiliation by Chinese historians.

Key Terms

Lansing-Ishii Agreement
A diplomatic note signed between the United States and the Empire of Japan on November 2, 1917, over their disputes with regards to China. Both parties pledged to uphold the Open Door Policy in China with respect to its territorial and administrative integrity. However, the United States government also acknowledged that Japan had “special interests” in China due to its geographic proximity, which was in effect a contradiction to the Open Door Policy.
Nine-Power Treaty
A 1922 treaty affirming the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China as per the Open Door Policy. The treaty was signed on February 6, 1922, by all attendees to the Washington Naval Conference: the United States, Belgium, the British Empire, Republic of China, France, Italy, Imperial Japan, the Netherlands, and Portugal.
Open Door Policy
A term in foreign affairs initially used to refer to the United States policy established in the late 19th century and the early 20th century, as enunciated by Secretary of State John Hay. The policy proposed to keep China open to trade with all countries on an equal basis, preventing any one power from total control of the country.

 

Origins of Open Door Policy

At the end of the 19th century, China faced the threat of being partitioned and colonized by imperial powers, including Britain, France, Russia, Japan, and Germany. After winning the Spanish-American War of 1898 and acquiring the Philippine Islands, the United States also increased its Asian presence and was expecting to further its commercial and political interest in China. However, the United States felt threatened by other powers’ much larger spheres of influence in China and worried that it might lose access to the Chinese market should the country be partitioned. As a response, U.S. diplomat William Woodville Rockhill formulated the Open Door Policy to safeguard American business opportunities and interests in China. In 1899, U.S. Secretary of State John Hay sent notes to France, Germany, Britain, Italy, Japan, and Russia, asking them to declare formally that they would uphold Chinese territorial and administrative integrity and would not interfere with the free use of the treaty ports within their spheres of influence in China. The Open Door Policy stated that all nations, including the United States, could enjoy equal access to the Chinese market.

In reply, each country tried to evade Hay’s request, taking the position that it could not commit itself until the other nations had complied. However, Hay announced that each of the powers had granted consent in principle. In 1900, Britain and Germany signed the Yangtze Agreement, which provided that they would oppose the partition of China into spheres of influence. The agreement was an endorsement of the Open Door Policy. Nonetheless, competition between the various powers for special concessions within Qing dynasty China for railroad rights, mining rights, loans, foreign trade ports, and privilege continued unabated.

 

“Putting his foot down” by J.S. Pughe, Punch, August 23, 1899. Uncle Sam stands on map of China that is being cut up by German, Italy, England, Russia, and France (Austria is in the background sharpening shears); Uncle Sam clutches “Trade Treaty with China” and says: “Gentleman, you may cut up this map as much as you like, but remember, I’m here to stay, and you can’t divide Me up into spheres of influence.”

Open Door Policy in Practice

In 1902, the United States government protested the Russian encroachment in Manchuria after the Boxer Rebellion as a violation of the Open Door Policy. When Japan replaced Russia in southern Manchuria after the Russo-Japanese War (1904–05), the Japanese and U.S. governments pledged to maintain a policy of equality in Manchuria.

In 1917, a diplomatic note was signed between the United States and Japan to regulate disputes over China. Signed by U.S. Secretary of State Robert Lansing and Japanese special envoy Ishii Kikujirō and thus known as the Lansing-Ishii Agreement, the note pledged to uphold the Open Door Policy in China with respect to its territorial and administrative integrity. However, the United States government also acknowledged that Japan had “special interests” in China due to its geographic proximity, especially in those areas of China adjacent to Japanese territory, which was in effect a contradiction to the Open Door Policy. In a secret protocol attached to the public note, both parties agreed not to take advantage of the special opportunities presented by World War I to seek special rights or privileges in China at the expense of other nations allied in the war effort against Germany.

William Woodville Rockhill (1854-1914), U.S. Ambassador to Russia, United States Department of State.

With the outbreak of the Boxer Rebellion, U.S. Secretary of State John Hay, who knew little of the Far East, turned to Rockhill for guidance. Rockhill drafted a memorandum that spelled out the Open Door Policy. The memorandum was circulated to Russia, Britain, Germany, France, Japan, and Italy and in March 1900, Secretary Hay announced that all the Great Powers had signed off on the Open Door Policy.

At the time, the Lansing-Ishii Agreement was touted as evidence that Japan and the United States had laid to rest their increasingly bitter rivalry over China, and the Agreement was hailed as a landmark in Japan-U.S. relations. However, critics soon realized that the vagueness of the Agreement meant that nothing had really been decided after two months of talks.

The Lansing-Ishii Agreement was replaced in 1923 by the Nine-Power Treaty. During the Washington Naval Conference of 1921–1922, the United States government again raised the Open Door Policy as an international issue and had all of the attendees (United States, Republic of China, Imperial Japan, France, Great Britain, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, and Portugal) sign the Nine-Power Treaty, which intended to make the Open Door Policy international law. The Nine-Power Treaty affirmed the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China as per the Open Door Policy. It also effectively prompted Japan to return territorial control of Shandong province (a former German holding in China controlled by Japan as a result of World War I) to the Republic of China.

The Nine-Power Treaty lacked any enforcement regulations, and when violated by Japan during its invasion of Manchuria in 1931 and creation of Manchukuo, the United States could do little more than issue protests and impose economic sanctions. In 1937, the signatories of the Nine-Power Treaty convened in Brussels for the Nine Power Treaty Conference after the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, but to no avail. World War II effectively violated the Nine-Power Treaty.

Significance

The Open Door Policy was a principle that was never formally adopted via treaty or international law. It was invoked or alluded to but never enforced as such. In practice, it was used to mediate competing interests of the colonial powers without much meaningful input from the Chinese, creating lingering resentment and causing it to later be seen as a symbol of national humiliation by Chinese historians.

 

Attributions