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UNEQUAL TREATIES
Question One
Many treaties seek to bring peaceful co-existence between conflicting parties. The idea behind treaties is to come up with solutions to the various problems shared by the conflicting nations. The best treaties are the ones that do not prefer one party over the other. The establishment of peaceful treaties seeks to maintain the connection between the conflicting parties without oppressing either side (Canterbury.ac.nz). An Unequal Treaty is a type of treaty that favors one party more over the other. Unequal treaties usually promote an imbalance in the various agreements set by the involved parties. In unequal treaties, the superior country proposes and implements issues that will benefit them and weaken the other party or state. The Nanking Treaty is a clear example of an unequal treaty. It contains short- lived promises that entice the Chinese government into allowing the British to take over their trading markets and ports. The British benefited more from the Nanking Treaty compared to the Chinese (Nanking.com).
Question Two
The foreign power involved in the Nanking Treaty was the British Empire. The British were seeking to expand their trade to different regions of the world. The expansion of the British merchant activities had numerous challenges. The major issues were that China was economically self-sufficient, and it produced most of its products. The British wanted to penetrate the Chinese market by introducing opium trade from India to China. The Chinese government set laws to terminate opium trade in China. This is directly affected the British trading activities with China and India (Citelighter.com). The British wanted the Nanking Treaty to withdraw the entire constraints imposed by the Chinese government, making it simpler for them to expand their trade activities into the Chinese market. The British government was also hoping that the treaty would create good relationships with the Chinese government. The British set the terms and conditions of the treaty to their favor. They knew that the Chinese government was going to fall victim of the various loopholes in the treaty (China.usc.edu).
Question Three
The Nanking Treaty had several articles that included the terms and conditions set by the China and Britain. One of the harshest terms provided by the British government required Chinese government to pay six million dollars as payment for the opium used as ransom for the arrested British citizens. This amount, as stated in the fourth article of the treaty, was to attract a five percent annual interest rate in the Chinese government failed to release the British citizens within the required time. This article was aggressive to the Chinese government as it gave them a difficult ultimatum; to either spend the government money or set the prisoners free. None of the options favored the Chinese government (Hyperhistory.com) t.
The fifth article of the Nanking Treaty was aggressive to the Chinese government has it was forced to pay the British government three million dollars owing to the insolvency cases of the Hong Merchants. This article shows the degree to which the British government had to go to force the Chinese government to by their allies. The release of some of the Chinese ports to the foreigners was a harsh demand made by the British government to the Chinese Empire. The Chinese were compelled to give out their ports, an issue that was contrary to their prior plan. This term was mentioned in the third article of the treaty.
Question Four
The Nanking Treaty also contained weak and less aggressive articles. These articles did not have a negative impact on either party. The second article shows how the Chinese Emperor agrees to allow the British merchants to live in China with the condition that they only practice the trade (Nanking.com). This is a weak article as the British merchants in China were bound to live in China. The eleventh article of the treaty shows how both parties agreed to have peaceful co-existence at high ranking and normal citizenships. This article was weak as both parties had indulged in peaceful trade activities. The last article of the treaty included the procedures to be followed when signing the treaty. These procedures did not pose a huge impact on the nature of the agreements that were stated earlier (Ocw.mit.edu).
Question Five
The Nanking Treaty was not written in the native language as a means of enabling the British to include terms that are unclear to the natives. This was used as a strategy by the British government to enable them to make the treaty meet their numerous demands and hidden agenda. The treaty was not written in the native Mandarin Chinese since the British knew the locals had problems understanding English. A translator was therefore involved in translating and conveying the messages. In most cases, the translator did not give the intended message (Hyperhistory.com).
Question Six
The imposing nation created a more advantageous platform over the local nation. The British government increased its trade markets and moved its activities to China. The events that followed after the signing of the treaty showed the superiority of the British government over the Chinese government. This not only diminished China’s previous rules but also weakened her marketing allies in the regions.
Works Cited
Canterbury.ac.nz,. 'The Treaty Of Nanking 1841 - Voyages Of Pacific Discovery - Library - University Of Canterbury'. N.p., 2015. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.
China.usc.edu,. 'Treaty Of Nanjing (Nanking), 1842 | US-China Institute'. N.p., 2015. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.
Citelighter.com,. 'Citelighter Is The Fast, Fun, And Easy Way To Do Research'. N.p., 2015. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.
Hyperhistory.com,. 'Opium War'. N.p., 2015. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.
Nanking.com,. 'Nanking .Com'. N.p., 2015. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.
Ocw.mit.edu,. 'MIT Visualizing Cultures'. N.p., 2015. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.