Treaty of the Bogue
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The Treaty of the Bogue (simplified Chinese: 虎门条约; traditional Chinese: 虎門條約) was an agreement between China and the United Kingdom, which was concluded in October 1843 in order to supplement the previous Treaty of Nanking. The treaty is mostly known for the fact that it granted extraterritoriality and most favored nation status to Britain.
In order to conclude the First Opium War, imperial commissioner Qiying and Henry Pottinger concluded the Treaty of Nanking aboard the British warship HMS Cornwallis in 1842 in Nanjing on the behalf of the British and the Qing Empires. The treaty became the first of a series of commercial treaties, often referred to as "Unequal Treaties", which China concluded with Western powers.
Already during the negotiations in Nanjing, China and Britain agreed that a supplementary treaty be concluded, and on 22 July 1843 the two parties promulgated the "General Regulations of Trade with Britain and China" in Guangzhou. These regulations were included in the "Treaty of the Bogue," which Qiying and Pottinger signed on 3 October 1843 on the Bogue outside Guangzhou.
The treaty laid down detailed regulations for Sino-British trade and specified the terms under which Britons could reside in the newly opened ports of Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen, Fuzhou and Guangzhou. While Britons were allowed to buy property in the treaty ports and reside there with their families, they were not allowed to travel to the interior of China or carry out trade there.
The treaty also granted extraterritorial privileges to British subjects and Most Favored Nation status to the United Kingdom, which meant that Britain would enjoy any privilege granted to other powers.
In China, the treaty is widely regarded as an imperialist treaty, which paved the way for the subjugation of China to Western imperialism. The treaty consolidated the "opening" of China to foreign trade in the wake of the First Opium War and allowed Britons to reside in parts of China, which had not been opened to foreigners before. In 1845, local Qing authorities and the British authorities promulgated the Shanghai Land regulations, which paved the way for the foundation of the International Settlement. Similar agreements were concluded in other treaty ports, which created a social divide between the Europeans and Chinese citizens in the cities.
- Fairbank, John King. Trade and Diplomacy on the China Coast: The Opening of the Treaty Ports, 1842-1854. 2 vols. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1953.
- Hertslet, Edward, ed. Treaties, &C., between Great Britain and China; and between China and Foreign Powers; Orders in Council, Rules, Regulations, Acts of Parliament, Decrees, and Notifications Affecting British Interests in China, in Force on the 1st January, 1896. 2 vols. London: Homson, 1896.