Shandong Problem

History of China
History of China
ANCIENT
Neolithic c. 8500 – c. 2070 BCE
Xia dynasty c. 2070 – c. 1600 BCE
Shang dynasty c. 1600 – c. 1046 BCE
Zhou dynasty c. 1046 – 256 BCE
 Western Zhou
 Eastern Zhou
   Spring and Autumn
   Warring States
IMPERIAL
Qin dynasty 221–206 BCE
Han dynasty 206 BCE – 220 CE
  Western Han
  Xin dynasty
  Eastern Han
Three Kingdoms 220–280
  Wei, Shu and Wu
Jin dynasty 265–420
  Western Jin
  Eastern Jin Sixteen Kingdoms
Northern and Southern dynasties
420–589
Sui dynasty 581–618
Tang dynasty 618–907
  (Second Zhou dynasty 690–705)
Five Dynasties and
Ten Kingdoms
907–960		 Liao dynasty
907–1125
Song dynasty
960–1279
  Northern Song Western Xia
  Southern Song Jin
Yuan dynasty 1271–1368
Ming dynasty 1368–1644
Qing dynasty 1644–1911
MODERN
Republic of China 1912–1949
People's Republic
of China
1949–present		 Republic of
China (Taiwan)
1949–present

The Shandong Problem (simplified Chinese: 山东问题; traditional Chinese: 山東問題; pinyin: Shāndōng wèntí) refers to the dispute over Article 156 of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, which dealt with the concession of the Shandong Peninsula.

During the First World War, China supported the Allies on condition that the Kiautschou Bay concession, Imperial Germany's concession on the Shandong peninsula, would be returned to China. However, in 1915 China, forced by Japanese ultimatum, reluctantly agreed to a reduced set of "Thirteen Demands" from Japan's original Twenty-One Demands which, among other things, acknowledged Japanese control of former German holdings. Britain and France promised Japan it could keep these holdings. In late 1918 China reaffirmed the transfer to Germany and accepted payments from Japan. Article 156 in 1919 officially transferred the concessions in Shandong to Japan rather than returning sovereign authority to China.[1]

Despite its formal agreement to Japan's terms (in 1915 and 1918), China at Paris in 1919 now denounced the transfer of German holdings, and won the strong support of President Wilson. The Chinese ambassador to France, Wellington Koo, stated that China could never relinquish Shandong, which was the birthplace of Confucius, the central Chinese philosopher, as much as Christians could not concede Jerusalem. He demanded the promised return of sovereignty over Shandong, to no avail. Japan was adamant and prevailed. Chinese popular outrage over this provision led to demonstrations and a cultural movement known as the May Fourth Movement and influenced Wellington Koo not to sign the treaty.

China's refusal to sign the Versailles Treaty necessitated a separate treaty with Germany in 1921. The Shandong dispute was mediated by the United States in 1922 during the Washington Naval Conference. In a victory for China, the sovereignty of Shandong was returned to China. However Japan maintained its economic dominance of the railway and the province as a whole.[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ A. Whitney Griswold, The Far Eastern Policy of the United States (1938) pp 239-68
  2. ↑ Griswold, The Far Eastern Policy of the United States (1938) pp 326-28

Further reading

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 7/8/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.