Li–Lobanov Treaty

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Painting showing 3 Russian delegates and 5 Chinese delegates on either side of a table.
A painting by the Bulgarian artist Marina Ruseva, which depicts the signing of the Treaty of 1896

The Li–Lobanov Treaty or the Sino-Russian Secret Treaty (

Boxer Uprising
of 1900.

The contents of the agreement were made public only in 1922.

Background

Following the Treaty of Shimonoseki ending the First Sino-Japanese War and the Triple Intervention, China was forced to pay a large indemnity to the Empire of Japan (230 million kuping taels equal to 8,600 tonnes of silver). In order to raise the funds for this payment, China approached France and Russia for loans. Taking advantage of this situation, Russian finance minister Sergei Witte established the Russo-Chinese Bank, which was controlled by the Russian government, and agreed to facilitate the loans.[1]

Contents

Meeting with Li Hongzhang in Moscow during the coronation ceremonies for

Russian gauge railway through Heilongjiang and Jilin to Vladivostok on the Pacific coast.[2] Along with the railway concession, Russian personnel and police received extraterritorial jurisdiction over large portions of Northeast China and the permission to station troops to protect the railway.[1]
China was also not allowed to interfere with Russian troop movements or munitions and also had to grant Russia decreased tariff rates. To avoid diplomatic issues with the other
major powers, Li insisted that the concession be granted to the Russo-Chinese Bank, rather than directly to the Russian government,[1]
making the railway nominally a joint project, although it was in reality completely financed and controlled by Russia.

Consequences

The terms of the treaty were tantamount to the annexation of northeast China by Russia in all but name.

China Eastern Railway to be built from northern Harbin to the port city of Dalian.[3]
These events increased anti-foreign sentiment in China, which came to a head in the
Boxer Uprising
of 1900.

See also

Notes

  1. ^
    ISBN 0-8108-4927-5
    . Kowner, Historical Dictionary of the Russo-Japanese War, p. 209-210
  2. ^ Nish, Ian (2014). The Origins of the Russo-Japanese War. Routledge. p. 31.
  3. ^ Schumpeter, Elizabeth Boody (1940). The Industrialization of Japan and Manchukuo, 1930-1940. Vol. 8. Taylor & Francis. p. 382.

Further reading

  • Cheng, Tianfang. A history of Sino-Russian relations (1957) pp 57-60.
  • Kawakami, Kiyoshi Karl. "The Russo-Chinese Conflict in Manchuria." Foreign Affairs 8.1 (1929): 52-68.
  • Ukoianov, Igor V.L. "The First Russo-Chinese Allied Treaty of 1896." International Journal of Korean History 11 (2007): 151-177 abstract.
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