What Are The Arguments In Favour Of The Open Door Policy

Open Door policy, statement of principles initiated by the United States in 1899 and 1900 for the protection of equal privileges among countries trading with China and in support of Chinese territorial and administrative integrity. The statement was issued in the form of circular notes dispatched by U.S. Secretary of State John Hay to Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and Russia. The Open Door policy was received with almost universal approval in the United States, and for more than 40 years it was a cornerstone of American foreign policy in East Asia. The principle that all countries should have equal access to any of the ports open to trade in China had been stipulated in the Anglo-Chinese treaties of Nanjing and Wangxia. Great
Britain had greater interests in China than any other power and successfully maintained the policy of the open door until the late 19th century. After the first Sino-Japanese War, however, a scramble for “spheres of influence” in various parts of coastal China—primarily by Russia, France, Germany, and Great Britain—began. Within each of those spheres the controlling major power claimed exclusive privileges of investment, and it was feared that each would likewise seek to monopolize the trade. Moreover, it was generally feared that the breakup of China into economic segments dominated by various great powers would lead to complete subjection and the division of the country into colonies. The crisis in China coincided with several major developments in the United States. A new interest in foreign markets had emerged there following the economic depression of the 1890s. The United States also had just gained the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico as a result of the Spanish-American War and was becoming increasingly interested in China, where American textile manufacturers had found markets for cheap cotton goods. The 1899 Open Door notes provided that each great power should maintain free access to a treaty port or to any other vested interest within its sphere, only the Chinese government should collect taxes on trade, and no great power having a sphere should be granted exemptions from paying harbour dues or railroad charges. The replies from the various countries were evasive, but Hay interpreted them as acceptances. In reaction to the presence of European armies in northern China to suppress the Boxer Rebellion, Hay’s second circular of 1900 stressed the importance of preserving China’s territorial and administrative integrity. Hay did not ask for replies, but all the powers except Japan expressed agreement with those principles. Japan violated the Open Door principle with its presentation of Twenty-one Demands to China in 1915. The Nine-Power Treaty after the Washington Conference reaffirmed the principle, however.
The crisis in Manchuria brought about by the Mukden Incident of 1931 and the war between China and Japan that broke out in 1937 led the United States to adopt a rigid stand in favour of the Open Door policy, including escalating embargoes on exports of essential commodities to Japan, notably oil and scrap metal. The embargoes are cited as one of the main reasons Japan went to war with the United States in late 1941. Japan’s defeat in World War II and the communist victory in China’s civil war, which ended all special privileges to foreigners, made the Open Door policy meaningless. The United States took Far Eastern matters more seriously after the Spanish-American War, when they came into possession of the Philippines. In the fall of 1898, President McKinley stated his desire for the creation of an "open door" that would allow all trading nations access to the Chinese market. The following year, Secretary of State John Hay sought a formal endorsement of the concept by circulating diplomatic notes among the major powers, enabling the secretary to be credited with authoring the Open Door policy.Hay’s proposal for an Open Door Policy called for the establishment of equal trading rights to all nations in all parts of China and for recognition of Chinese territorial integrity (meaning that the country should not be
carved up). The impact of such an Open Door Policy would be to put all of the imperial nations on an equal footing and minimize the power of those nations with existing spheres of influence.No nation formally agreed to Hay’s policy; each used the other nations' reluctance to endorse the Open Door as an excuse for their own inaction. An undeterred Hay simply announced that agreement had been reached.
Only Russia and Japan voiced displeasure. On the surface, it appeared that the United States had advanced a reform viewpoint, but the truth was otherwise. The U.S. had no sphere of influence in China, but had long maintained an active trade there. If other nations were to partition China, the United States would likely be excluded from future commercial activities. In short, Hay was simply trying to protect the prospects of American businessmen and investors. Challenges to the Open Door policy would be mounted frequently in the ensuing years, including theBoxer Rebellion of 1900 in which Chinese nationalists resorted to armed opposition in an attempt to end foreign occupation of their country; Japanese incursions into Manchuria following the Russo-Japanese War; and the "21 Demands" levied by Japan on China in 1915. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, countries were engaged in a widespread scramble to expand their colonies around the world. This aggressive economic and political push was known as the Age of Imperialism. For example, the French, Belgians, Dutch and British had moved into the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Japan had assumed power over the Korean peninsula, and the United States was exerting control over Latin America and the
Asian Pacific. In retrospect, it looked just like a mad dash to see which nation could acquire the most territorial possessions. One country that all empire-building powers wanted to control was China. During the late 19th century, the Chinese government was in a fragile state, and different countries had designated spheres of influence inside of China. Spheres of influence are areas of economic and political control. Among the Europeans, Japanese and Americans, there was intense competition to exert control over China - countries that were literally carving the nation into pieces. Great Britain, for example, controlled the city of Hong Kong. It was kind of like the classic childhood game, King of the Hill, in which the players compete to see who can remain atop some 'hill' the longest. During the Age of Imperialism, it seemed as if nearly every country was competing to be top dog in China.