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During its time as a British colony, Weihaiwei was far from a jewel in the crown. It did not have the magnificent harbor of Hong Kong. It did not see the diverse cargo of Singapore. It was a backwater before it ever came under British control. Weihaiwei’s process of becoming a British colony illustrates the geopolitical forces at work in East Asia in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and with them the interests of imperial powers colliding along the China coast. In the last decade of the nineteenth century, imperial Japan’s industrial edge over the rest of Asia, along with its rising regional ambition and increasing need for raw materials to fuel continued growth, combined to create a nation that was willing to use its strength against its neighbors. The first friction between Japan and China came in the mid-1890s, when the arrival of troops from both sides on the Korean Peninsula began to threaten Chinese suzerainty over what the Qing dynasty traditionally considered a vassal state. Japan’s rise also coincided with weakness and internal strife in its two largest neighbors, China and Russia. Both were in the last throes of dynastic monarchy although neither knew it at the time. Both were long accustomed to being generally unchallenged, and that arrogance was undermining their true military strength. Also, both were slow to embrace industrialization. China’s Qing dynasty rulers dabbled in modern ideas, mostly aesthetic ones, but rejected new, non-Chinese technology, unlike the way that Japan had embraced modernization following the Meiji Restoration in 1868. China’s Modern Navy One area in which China had been willing to consider foreign technology and know-how was for its fledgling navy. China had not had Chapter 3 “This Most Absolutely Forgotten of Imperial Outposts” 28 Poseidon a significant seaborne military force since the Ming dynasty (1368– 1644). Many of its difficulties in dealing with foreign powers, and the ability of those nations to wrest land and other concessions from the imperial government, were due to China’s almost complete lack of a naval deterrent. Although Macau was ceded to Portugal in the 1550s, it was not until the nineteenth century that European countries and then Japan made their greatest territorial gains in China. Leading the naval effort was Li Hongzhang, one of the dynasty’s top diplomats and generals. He was a better diplomat than he was a general. Li was regarded in China for his willingness to adopt Western industrialization and modernization and to have pushed for those ideas at the Qing court, but when diplomacy failed and military action was required, he was far less skilled. He had made his reputation as a military leader in the suppression of the Taiping Rebellion (1850–64), but against foreign foes, he failed to score a single victory.1 Given his dual portfolios, Li was a natural choice to head China’s new navy. That force was first deployed in 1884 and had four divisions in different Chinese geographic areas. In its inaugural test, the Chinese Fujian Fleet was entirely destroyed by French naval forces.2 After yet another military defeat in the Sino-French War of 1886,3 Li began rebuilding the nation’s navy. At the time, the British built the best warships in the world, and the Chinese knew it. British shipbuilders would ultimately arm Japan’s fleet in its earliest stages. While Li would have been well aware of the quality of British steel, he also knew its high price. Therefore, he turned to a rising land and naval power whose steel mills and shipyards were also gaining in reputation: the German state of Prussia, whose products were available at a lower price than those of their British rivals.4 With a limited budget and seeking a force of fortyeight ships, Li would not be able to buy the top of the line. Li Hongzhang chose Weihaiwei as the base for his Beiyang Fleet. Although China had faced foreign incursions up and down its extensive coastline, Li correctly predicted that the next major conflict would center on Korea. Therefore, Weihaiwei, close to the entrance of the Gulf of Pechihli and having ready access to the East China Sea, was a good choice. The Gulf of Pechihli offers maritime access from northern Chinese ports to larger waters beyond. It abuts China’s northernmost coastal areas and allows for a number of major port cities of such as Weihaiwei and Chefoo (now Yantai) in...

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