Unequal Treaties

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The Unequal Treaties (Chinese (traditional), Korean (Hanja): 不平等條約; Korean (Hangul): 불평등 조약; Chinese (simplified): 不平等条约; Japanese: 不平等条約) is the name in the English language used by modern China for a series of treaties signed by several Asian states, including the Qing Empire in China, late Tokugawa Japan, and late Joseon Korea, and foreign powers (列強, 열강) during the 19th and early 20th centuries. This was a period during which these states were largely unable to resist the military and economic pressures of the primary Western powers. The unequal treaties began with China following the First Opium War. Following Qing China's defeat treaties with Britain opened up several ports to foreign trade while also allowing Christians to reside and proselytize in such open ports unmolested. In addition, in the case of crimes foreign residents in the port cities were afforded "trials" by their own consular authorities rather than the Chinese legal system (a concept termed extraterritoriality). China considered these treaties "unequal" because in most cases China saw itself as being forced to pay large amounts of reparations, open up ports, cede lands, and make various concessions to foreign "spheres of influence," following military defeats in wars initiated against her will. When the American Commodore Matthew Perry forced open Japan in 1854 similar treaties were soon forced upon her, though admittedly in a less high-handed manner. A similar scenario was played out in Korea. Ironically, Korea's first unequal treaties were not with the West but with Japan, which taking a page from Western tactics had forced Korea to open its doors to foreign intercourse in 1876. Such unequal treaties ended at various times for the countries involved. Japan was the first to throw off the shackles of unequal treaties during the mid 1890s, when its performance in the First Sino-Japanese War convinced many in the West that Japan had indeed entered among the body of "civilized nations". For China and Korea the wait was a bit longer, with China's unequal treaties only completely dissolved following Communist takeover in 1949. The foreign unequal treaties with Korea became largely null and void following Korea's annexation to the Japanese Empire in 1910.