Identify America’s “Open Door Policy” and explain how it influenced events in Asia between 1899 and 1949
... its own government, but it paid a heavy price for the Boxer uprising. After the Opium Wars reduced the Qing empire to near bankruptcy, Western imperialists cracked open China's "closed door" policy. China was forced to open more ports to trade and also cede adjacent territories to the West. The triumphant West soon colonized these territories. England annexed Hong Kong and Kowloon to add to its existing Asian colonies; France took over Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos); Russia moved into Chinese Turkestan and Manchuria; Japan grabbed Taiwan and won dominance over Korea. To guarantee America's share, the U.S. negotiated The Open Door Policy in 1899 to ensure "equal and impartial" Chinese trade among Western imperialists. The Chinese people were furious and humiliated. A secret society of common peasants formed an underground movement to fight the "foreign devils. For the first 100 years of US history, China, as far as the United States was concerned, did not exist. That was just fine for the Chinese as well. When trade between Europe and China opened with that nation in the middle of the 19th century, China suddenly became very important. Fearful of European nations' growing monopoly over trade in China, the United States diplomatic corps, in 1899, established an Open Door Policy concerning Chinese trade. This policy, accepted by the international community, guaranteed that trade with China would be open to all nations, and -- in a lesser known declaration -- that United States military might would insure China's territorial integrity. For better or worse, the United States became inextricably linked with Chinese security. The British were especially resented in China because of their power and wealth. Britain’s stake in China foreign trade was larger than that of all other nations combined. The British invested heavily in the construction of railroads and the opening of mines, and they owned and operated many factories in the treaty ports along the coast. Also, they had made loans to China’s impoverished government. The British were always careful to remind the Chinese of the many privileges guaranteed the Westerners by treaty. The Chinese also regarded the Japanese as a menace. In 1905, Japan had made significant gains after defeating Russia in the Russo-Japanese War. As a result of the peace terms, Japan took over Russia’s rights in port Arthur and made Korea a protectorate. In 1910, Japan annexed Korea. This expansion of Japanese Relations with Japan worsened after the revolution of 1911. The Japanese whose government was a monarchy, were not happy to see a republic established in China. In fact, Japan was the last major power to recognize the new republic. During WW1, the tension between the two Asian countries further increased. When the war broke out in 1914, China’s government decided to stay neutral. Japan, which had a defensive alliance with Great Britain, decided to join on the Allies’ side. In 1915 Japan made its most serious attempt to gain power over China. Realizing that European po...