Rockhill And American Open Door Policy To China(1899-1902)

Rockhill is a famous American scholar and diplomat in the late 19 th century and early 20 th century.In 1884,He went to China for the first time as the second counsellor of the U.S.Legation to China,and from then on,he formed an indissoluble bond with China.At the end of the19 th century,Great changes have taken place in the international situation,the U.S.economy had leapt to No.1 in the world,the domestic market could not satisfy the sales of goods,and needed to expand overseas to seek new commodity markets,so the U.S.turned its attention to East Asia.However,the focus of modern American diplomacy has always been in Europe,the government leaders did’t know much about the affairs of Asian,there were even fewer experts familiar with Asian issues in the American diplomatic community.Therefore,Rockhill entered the American political arena with the identity of China Hand and became one of the decision-makers of American foreign relations with China.As a diplomat,Rockhill once served in the Far East Department of the U.S.State Department,and then went to China to deal with diplomatic issues.He experienced many major events in modern Chinese history.In addition,Rockhill was trusted by the President,so he had more power than other diplomats in charge of other regions,and had played an irreplaceable role in the U.S.policy toward China.He was the implementer of the Declaration of open door of the U.S.to China,and played an important role in a series of events such as the negotiation of Boxer Protocol,The Chinese boycott of American goods,and Boxer indemnity.During this process,Rockhill also formed a complete and systematic concept of China.Faced with the situation that European powers have divided their spheres of influence in China,Rockhill knew that the U.S.needed to strive for the opportunity to compete for interests in China.He putted the relations between China and the United States into the international situation.On the one hand,he fully understood and followed the execution of the United States since the embassy in American Anson Burlingame so-called cooperation policy toward China.On the other hand,He adjusted the U.S.policy toward China in a timely manner in accordance with the changes of the times and the needs of U.S.national interests.Therefore,in 1899,he drafted the declaration of Open Door note,which proposed equal interests and opportunities,and temporarily maintained the balance of power among the major powers in China.However,after the outbreak of Boxer Rebellion,the U.S.government which recently issued its Open Door declaration,faced the tense situation of China being carved up by the Western powers.This was a serious diplomatic challenge for the U.S.government.As a China Hand,Rockhill was sent to China to involve the diplomatic negotiation.He analyzed the situation in China and made the judgement.Correspondingly,he adjusted the U.S.diplomatic principles with China in time.On the basis of the first Open Door note,he urged the U.S.government to issue the second Open Door note,establishing the principle of the U.S.diplomacy towards China,and he resolutely preserved the Qing government’s administrative entity status in the negotiations.As the plenipotentiary representative of the U.S.in the negotiation of the Boxer Protocol,he insisted to carry out the principle of Open Door during the negotiation of the treaty in terms of compensation,punishment,modification of commerce clause,etc.,and strived to safeguard the American interests from China.this also laid the foundation for the Open Door tradition of the U.S.diplomacy toward China.