Open-Door Policy: History, Use & Impact in Economic & Political Fields - Paper Example

The open-door policy is used in both economic and political fields and was used initially in China, referring to a policy established in the late 19th and 20th centuries, which allowed the country to open trade system to all countries equally (Wen & Wang, 2017). Different colonies had competing interests in China, and the policy was made to mediate them, and under the policy, none of the competing parties would have exclusive trading rights. The term is also used to describe the economic system of 1978 initiated by Deng Xiaoping to open China to foreign investors who had an interest in investing in China (Wen & Wang, 2017). The open-door policy for business expansions laid the platform for modern China economic transformation. The open-door policy of 1899 was an announcement of values introduced by the United States to call for equal freedoms amongst colonies interested in trading in China and support the Chinese national and administrative veracity (Gopinath, 2017). The essay evaluates America's open-door policy with China beginning in 1899 and the developments.

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The statement was issued in the form of a note dated September 6, 1899, and was transmitted by U.S. Secretary John Hay to Russia, German, Great Britain, Japan, France, and Italy (Wen & Wang, 2017). The note proposed to keep China an open state for trade to all nations on equal bases, and none of the powers was to control the territory. It also called for the European powers within their sphere of influence not to interfere by making treaties with China. Avoiding treaties with China would enable the Chinese authorities to collect tariffs equally and show no favors to dock levies and rail charges. The policy was rooted in business desire in the United States to trade with the Chinese markets (Wang, 2018). The policy had outstanding achievements as it won the support of all the rivals and was accepted by countries that opposed imperialism as it aimed to protect China's sovereignty and territorial integrity from the partition. However, the policy had no legal standings or enforcement mechanism but was honored, making China unpartitioned as Africa in the 1880s and 1890s (Wen & Lu, 2017).

Anglo-Chinese agreements such as Nanjing (Nanking, 1842) and Wanghia (Wanghia, 1844) had already stipulated all countries' opinions to have equal admittance to any of the Chinese docks to trade in the country (Wen & Wang, 2017). Great Britain was the colony with more interests in China than any other nation, but it preserved the policy until the late 19th century. After the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894 to 1895, competition for a sphere of influence began in China, coastal regions involving the European colonies (Gopinath, 2017). Within each sphere, the controlling power colony had exclusive powers over the investments, and it was feared monopolies might arise. Moreover, China's splitting to economic sections with each controlled by a specific country would subject the country to division in colonies. Happening in China overlapped with the United States’ concerns for more markets. The United States concentrated on foreign markets following the 1890s economic decline (Wang, 2018). U.N. had gained access to Philippians, Puerto Rico, and Guan following the Spanish-American War of 1898 (Wen & Lu, 2017). Besides, American textile producers saw the Chinese market as significant for their cotton products marking the U.S. much interested.

All countries agreed to the notes except Japan, which violated the open-door policy by presenting twenty-one demands to china. There was a crisis in Northeast China due to the Mukden incident of 1931, and the war between the Japanese and Chinese in 1937 that made the U.S. adopt a firm stands in defense of the open-door policy (Wen & Wang, 2017). America eradicated embargoes on exporting commodities to Japan, such as the oil and scrap metal. One of the reasons for Japan to go to war with America in 1941 was the embargoes (Gopinath, 2017). Until the defeat of Japan at the end of WWII and the communists' win in 1949 for China's civil war, all special rights to foreigners ended, and the Open-door policy became worthless (Wen & Lu, 2017). The results were against the American expectations of enjoying the vast Chinese market as their investments did not reach significant proportions. The U.S. was unable to prevent other powers such as Japan from expanding in China. The Chinese leaders were unwilling to comply with open door principles despite being willing to seek American aid (Wang, 2018).

The policy had three significant impacts to both American and China. First, the principle increased Chinese backlash against foreigners. Open door policy increases the influence of foreigners to China, which led to the rise of anti-foreign and anti-colonial groups (Wen & Lu, 2017). Many foreigners in China were killed, and nationalist feelings increased among the Chinese. One of the significant events caused by the anti-foreign movement was the Boxer Rebellion. The foreign powers defeated the Boxes in 1901, and the soldiers continued looting Chinese villages (Wen & Lu, 2017).

The second impact was the Chinese and American conflict with Japan, which would violate the policy openly. The demanding Japanese expansion in control over China in the Northeast region (Manchuria). The Mukden Incident cause The U.S. to join with China in support of the policy and increases restrictions on exports to Japan. The embargoes increased tension between Japan and the Us, leading to the Pearl Harbor bombing in 1941 and WWII (Gopinath, 2017). The third impact of the policy was the increased influence of the U.S. in East Asia. However, East Asia was lucrative to the U.S., leading to America's inclusion in conflicts in the region.

The U.S. had three strong beliefs in foreign trade that cause the open-door policy (Gopinath, 2017). First, believe was that the U.S. economy depended on exports, and China was a potential market. The second was that the U.S. thought to have the right to keep the foreign market open even though it would involve force. The third one was that if some areas were closed, the U.S. commodities, people, ideas, and the nation itself would be threatened. Therefore, the government believed it was proper to keep markets open.

References

Gopinath, A. (2017). THE OPEN-DOOR DOCTRINE IN AMERICAN FAR EASTERN POLICY, 1899-1924. SEJARAH: Journal of the Department of History, 1(1). http://ajba.um.edu.my/index.php/SEJARAH/article/view/8912

Wang, D. (2018). Kendall A. Johnson, The New Middle Kingdom: China and the Early American Romance of Free Trade.

Wen, X., & Lu, C. (2017, January). The" Open Door" Policy of the United States and the Political Structure of the Northeast Asia. In 2016 2nd International Conference on Economics, Management Engineering and Education Technology (ICEMEET 2016). Atlantis Press. https://www.atlantis-press.com/proceedings/icemeet-16/25869268

Wen, X., & Wang, W. (2017, December). China Crisis and the" Open Door" Policy of the United States. In 4th International Conference on Education, Management, Arts, Economics and Social Science (ICEMAESS 2017). Atlantis Press. https://www.atlantis-press.com/proceedings/icemaess-17/25887296