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Top Questions What was the Open Door policy?The Open Door policy was a statement of principles initiated by the United States in 1899 and 1900. It called for protection of equal privileges for all countries trading with China and for the support of Chinese territorial and administrative integrity. The statement was issued in the form of two circulars (diplomatic notes), dispatched by U.S. Secretary of State John Hay to Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and Russia. The Open Door policy was a cornerstone of American foreign policy in East Asia until the mid-20th century.
John HayRead more about John Hay. What countries were involved in the Open Door policy?The Open Door policy was drafted by the United States about activity in China. The policy supported equal privileges for all the countries trading with China and reaffirmed China’s territorial and administrative integrity. Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and Russia were the recipients of the Open Door policy notes; other countries later affirmed the terms of the policy in the Nine-Power Pact of 1922.
When was the Open Door policy in effect?The Open Door policy began with the issuance of a circular (diplomatic note) by U.S. Secretary of State John Hay to Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and Russia on September 6, 1899. Hay issued a second circular to the same countries on July 3, 1900. The policy was a cornerstone of American foreign policy in East Asia until the mid-20th century; the policy was rendered meaningless in 1945 after Japan’s defeat in the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II, which brought changes to the world order, and in 1949 after the communist victory in China’s civil war, which ended all special privileges to foreigners.
Chinese Civil WarRead more about China’s civil war. What was the significance of the Open Door policy?The Open Door policy—first initiated in 1899, with a follow-up missive in 1900—was significant in its attempt by the United States to establish an international protocol of equal privileges for all countries trading with China and to support China’s territorial and administrative integrity. The policy was a cornerstone of American foreign policy in East Asia until the mid-20th century.
What led to the demise of the Open Door policy?The Open Door policy was doomed by changes on the international stage in the mid-20th century. In particular, Japan’s defeat in 1945 in the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II, which ushered in changes to the world order, and the communist victory in 1949 in China’s civil war, which ended all special privileges to foreigners in that country, contributed to the Open Door policy being rendered meaningless.
Second Sino-Japanese WarRead more about the Second Sino-Japanese War.
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 (Nanking, 1842) and Wangxia (Wanghia, 1844). 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 (1894–95), 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.
Britannica Quiz American History and Politics QuizThe 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 (1898) 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 (1) each great power should maintain free access to a treaty port or to any other vested interest within its sphere, (2) only the Chinese government should collect taxes on trade, and (3) 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 (1900), 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 (1921–22) reaffirmed the principle, however. The crisis in Manchuria (Northeast China) 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 (1945) and the communist victory in China’s civil war (1949), which ended all special privileges to foreigners, made the Open Door policy meaningless.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.
