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Template:ChineseText Unequal Treaty is a term used in reference to the type of treaties signed by several East Asian states, including Qing Dynasty China, late Tokugawa Japan, and late Joseon Dynasty Korea, with Western powers and the post-Meiji Restoration Empire of Japan, during the 19th and early 20th centuries. This was a period during which these Asian states were largely unable to resist the military pressures from foreign powers as many unequal treaties were signed by those countries after military failure or in the face of a threat of military action. These treaties of cessation encompassed a branch of the ultra vires legal doctrine without identifying any explicit or foreseeable consequences.

Overview

The earliest attempt to come to a settlement was the 1841 Convention of Chuenpee in the wake of the First Opium War that started in 1839. China and Great Britain signed the first unequal treaties under the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842. Following Qing China's defeat, treaties with Britain opened up several ports to foreign trade, while also allowing Christians to reside. In addition, the administration of justice on foreign residents in the port cities were afforded trials by their own consular authorities rather than the Chinese legal system, a concept termed extraterritoriality.

The term "unequal treaty" did not come into use until early in the 20th century. These treaties were considered unequal in China "because they were not negotiated by nations treating each other as equals but were imposed on China after a war, and because they encroached upon China's sovereign rights ... which reduced her to semicolonial status". In many cases China was effectively forced to pay large amounts of reparations, open up ports for trade, cede or lease territories (such as Hong Kong to Great Britain), and make various other concessions of sovereignty to foreign "spheres of influence", following humiliating military defeats.

When the United States Commodore Matthew Perry forced open Japan in 1854, Japan was soon prompted to sign the "Ansei Treaties" that were similar to the ones China had signed and the same thing soon happened to 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 commerce in 1876.

Such unequal treaties ended at various times for the countries involved. Japan was the first to throw off the shackles of its 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 somewhat longer. Most of China's unequal treaties were abrogated during World War II, when the Republic of China led by Chiang Kai-shek emerged victorious and became a permanent member of the Security Council of the United Nations. China's unequal treaties almost completely dissolved only following Hong Kong's 1997 handover. The agreement was made in 1984 following talks between Deng Xiaoping and the British under the Sino-British Joint Declaration. Exception of territory seized were made by Imperial Russia (Outer Manchuria) in 1860. Korea's unequal treaties with European states became largely null and void in 1910, when it was annexed by Japan.

Select list of unequal treaties

Alternative viewpoints

Writing in the Yale Law Journal, March 1972, Lung-chu Chen and W. M. Reisman argued that the proclamation by China in 1941 that all treaties with Japan were abrogated was devoid of any legality and effect in international law. As supporting evidence, they refer to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, art. 43. However, the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties did not come into force after 1980 and only covered treaties concluded after the entry into force of the Convention. Moreover, they note that "title" to Taiwan territory vested in Japan at the time of, and/or because of, the Treaty of Shimonoseki, as the language of the Treaty clearly indicated. Such title, insofar as it is title, ceases to be a bilateral contractual relationship and becomes a real relationship in international law. Though contract may be a modality for transferring title, title is not a contractual relationship. Professor Y. Frank Chiang, writing in the Fordham International Law Journal in 2004, expanded upon this analysis to state that there are no international law principles which can serve to validate a unilateral proclamation to abrogate (or revoke) a territorial treaty, whether based on a charge of being "unequal," or due to a subsequent "aggression" of the other party to the treaty, or any other reason.

Other uses

Recently, the term "unequal treaty" has been used by the RESPECT leader George Galloway and the then Liberal Democrat leader Menzies Campbell to refer to the 2003 U.K.-U.S. extradition treaty.

The 1903 Cuban-American Treaty, which granted the United States a perpetual lease of Guantanamo Bay, is seen as an "unequal treaty" by Professor Alfred de Zayas.

The American annexation of Hawaii in 1898 was an example of an "unequal treaty doctrine" and its consequences.

See also

• Client state
• Puppet state
• Most favoured nation
• Treaty of Waitangi

Notes

1. Wesley-Smith, Peter. (1981) "Legal Limitations upon the Legislative Competence of the Hong Kong Legislature," 11 Hong Kong Law Journal, Vol. 11, p. 3.
2. Courtauld, Caroline. Holdsworth, May. Vickers, Simon. (1997). The Hong Kong Story. HK University press. ISBN 0195903536
3. Wiltshire, Trea. (republished & reduced 2003). Old Hong Kong - Volume One. Central, Hong Kong: Text Form Asia books Ltd. ISBN Volume One 962-7283-59-2
4. Hsü, Immanuel C. Y. (1970). The Rise of Modern China. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 239. ISBN 7883022. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: length (help)
5. Preston, Peter Wallace. (1998). Blackwell Publishing. Pacific Asia in the Global System: An Introduction. ISBN 0631202382
6. Auslin, Michael R. (2004) Negotiating with Imperialism: The Unequal Treaties and the Culture of Japanese Diplomacy, p. 17., p. 17, at Google Books
7. Auslin, p. 30., p. 30, at Google Books
8. Auslin, pp. 1, 7., p. 1, at Google Books
9. Auslin, p. 214., p. 214, at Google Books
10. Auslin, pp. 47-48., p. 47, at Google Books
11. Auslin, p. 71., p. 71, at Google Books
12. Korean Mission to the Conference on the Limitation of Armament, Washington, D.C., 1921-1922. (1922). Korea's Appeal to the Conference on Limitation of Armament, p. 33., p. 33, at Google Books; excerpt, "Treaty Between Japan and Korea, dated February 26, 1876."
13. Korean Mission, p. 29., p. 29, at Google Books; excerpt, "Treaty and Diplomatic Relations Between the United States and Korea. Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation dated May 22, 1882."
14. Moon, Myungki. "Korea-China Treaty System in the 1880s and the Opening of Seoul: Review of the Joseon-Qing Communication and Commerce Rules," Journal of Northeast Asian History, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Dec 2008), pp. 85-120.
15. Korean Mission, p. 32., p. 32, at Google Books; excerpt, "Treaty and Diplomatic Relations Between Germany and Korea. Treaty of Amity and Commerce dated November 23, 1883."
16. Korean Mission, p. 32., p. 32, at Google Books; excerpt, "Treaty and Diplomatic Relations Between Great Britain and Korea ... dated November 26, 1883."
17. Korean Mission, p. 32., p. 32, at Google Books; excerpt, "Treaty and Diplomatic Relations Between Korea and Russia. Treaty of Amity and Commerce dated June 25, 1884."
18. Korean Mission, p. 32., p. 32, at Google Books; excerpt, "Treaty and Diplomatic Relations Between Korea and Italy. Treaty of Friendship and Commerce dated June 26, 1884."
19. Yi, Kwang-gyu and Joseph P. Linskey. (2003). Korean Traditional Culture, p. 63., p. 63, at Google Books; excerpt, "The so-called Hanseong Treaty was concluded between Korea and Japan. Korea paid compensation for Japanese losses. Japan and China worked out the Tien-Tsin Treaty, which ensured that both Japanese and Chinese troops withraw from Korea."
20. Korean Mission, p. 32., p. 32, at Google Books; excerpt, "Treaty and Diplomatic Relations Between Korea and France. Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation dated June 4, 1886."
21. Korean Mission, p. 32., p. 32, at Google Books; excerpt, "Treaty and Diplomatic Relations Between Korea and Austria. Treaty of Amity and Commerce dated July 23, 1892."
22. Korean Mission, p. 32., p. 32, at Google Books; excerpt, "Treaty and Diplomatic Relations Between Korea and Belgium. Treaty of Amity and Commerce dated March 23, 1901."
23. Korean Mission, p. 32., p. 32, at Google Books; excerpt, "Treaty and Diplomatic Relations Between Korea and Denmark. Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation dated July 15, 1902."
24. Korean Mission, p. 34., p. 34, at Google Books; excerpt, "Treaty of Alliance Between Japan and Korea, dated February 23, 1904."
25. Korean Mission, p. 35., p. 35, at Google Books; excerpt, "Alleged Treaty, dated November 17, 1905."
26. Korean Mission, p. 35., p. 35, at Google Books; excerpt, "Alleged Treaty, dated July 24, 1907."
27. Korean Mission, p. 36., p. 36, at Google Books; excerpt, "Alleged Treaty, dated August 20, 1910."
28. "Who Owns Taiwan: A Search for International Title". Yale Law Journal. March 1972.
29. Y. Frank Chiang (2004). "One-China Policy and Taiwan". Fordham International Law Journal. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
30. UK-US Extradition Treaty, House of Commons Hansard column 1437, 12 July 2006
31. Trapped by an unequal treaty The Independent, 6 July 2006
32. A. de Zayas The status of Guantanamo Bay and the status of the detainees, 2003
33. Morse, Bradford Wilmot. (1990). "American Annexation of Hawaii: An Example of the Unequal Treaty Doctrine" (with Kazi A. Hamid). Connecticut Journal of International Law, Vol. 5, pp. 407-456.

References

• Auslin, Michael R. (2004). Negotiating with Imperialism: The Unequal Treaties and the Culture of Japanese Diplomacy. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 10-ISBN 0674015215; 13-ISBN 9780674015210; OCLC 56493769
• Halleck, Henry Wager. (1861). International law: or, Rules regulating the intercourse of states in peace and war New York: D. Van Nostrand. OCLC 852699
• Hsü, Immanuel Chung-yueh (1970). The Rise of Modern China. New York: Oxford University Press. OCLC 300287988
• Korean Mission to the Conference on the Limitation of Armament, Washington, D.C., 1921-1922. (1922). Korea's Appeal to the Conference on Limitation of Armament. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office. OCLC 12923609
• Wang, Dong. (2005). China's Unequal Treaties: Narrating National History. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books. 10-ISBN 0739112082/13-ISBN 9780739112083; OCLC 60311787

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• Unequal treaties
• Boxer Rebellion
• History of the foreign relations of Japan
• History of Korea
• China – United Kingdom relations
• Foreign relations of the Qing Dynasty
• 19th century in China
• Lists of treaties