Open+Door+Policy+in+China

In a war that lasted from 1894 to 1895, Japan defeated China and gained control of Korea. Alarmed by Japanese aggresiveness, European imperial nations hastened to carve out **spheres of influence** along China's coast. These imperial nations were concerned with gaining trading rights in the country.

In the fall of 1898, **President McKinley** stated his hope for an "open door" to allow trading nations access to the Chinese market.

In 1899 **Secretary of State, John Hay**, issued a series of **"Open Door Notes."** This was a formal endorsement of the idea of circulating diplomatic notes among the major powers, giving Hay credit with the authoring of the Open Door Policy. His notes asked the European powers to agree to respect the trading rights of all countries and to impose no discriminatory duties in their spheres of influence. Hay wrote, for example, that Chinese tariffs should continue to be collected by Chinese within the spheres of influence. In other words, Hay's proposal called for the establishment of equal trading rights for all nations in all parts of China and for the respect of the nation of China--it should not be carved up among imperial nations. [|View the Open Door Notes]

The **Open Door Policy** opened up China to trade, gave all nations equal footing in China, and minimized the power of the imperial nations within their existing spheres of influence in the nation. All nations agreed to this policy--that is except China.

Resources: __The American Nation__ by John A Garraty [] [] []