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Japanese Treaties

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What exactly are the unequal treaties of Japan and did they have anything to do with the West or just China? I do not understand what they are and their importance. Are there many different treaties?

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The unequal treaties entered by Japan is discussed in this solution especially in the manner by which they relate o the West, to China and their importance.

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"Unequal treaty" is a term used in specific reference to a number of treaties imposed by Western powers, during the 19th and early 20th centuries, on China and Japan. The term is also applied to treaties imposed during the same time on Korea.The treaties were often signed by these Asian countries after suffering military defeat in various battles or wars with the foreign powers or during times when foreign powers threatened military action.

The term "unequal treaty" was not used 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 rendered China somewhat as a colony. In many cases China was effectively forced to pay large amounts of reparations, open up ports for trade, stop or lease territories (such as Hong Kong to Great Britain and Macau to Portugal), and make various other concessions of sovereignty to foreign "spheres of influence", following military defeats.

The earliest attempt to settle a conflict between Western and Asian powers was the 1841 Convention of Chuenpee negotiations during the First Opium War.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 five ports to foreign trade, while also allowing foreign missionaries to reside in China. ...

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